This segment features artists who have submitted their tracks/videos to She Makes Music. If you would like to be featured here then please send an e-mail to helen@shemakesmusic.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you!
Havilah
Havilah is an emerging artist from Richmond, VA. She has just released her debut single, ‘CONFESSIONS,’ which is a pop-indie track with heavy bass, a driving rhythm, and honest lyricism.
“‘CONFESSIONS’ marks a time in my life when I felt like I was losing myself in people and things. It’s a deeply personal song, and while I was nervous to release it as my first, I’ve realized that its vulnerability makes it the perfect introduction to who I am as an artist. Life is too short not to share your art—especially if it can help someone going through something similar,” says Havilah.
Havilah is inspired by artists like Indigo De Souza and Samia, whose raw and honest storytelling has really shaped the way she approaches her own music. Her sound blends indie pop and alternative, with a focus on introspection and emotional depth.
Rina
Rina was born in New York City by two Albanian immigrants. She had grown up without any siblings which lead her to following and becoming a fan of a bunch of bands and musicians that increased her love for music. She had been writing music for awhile, but never grew confident in sharing it with anyone until very recently. Since she grew up in the time of tumblr, One Direction, The 1975, Lana Del Rey, she had a lot of influences on her and it has lead to her music being a blend of so many genres of music from pop, indie rock, gothic themes and punk.
Her new single ‘Medusa’ is about the myth of Medusa and how it correlates to women’s fear to speak against their abusers. “I wrote it after I had gotten into a new friend group that i truly felt like would be my family or my forever group. But after going to one of their shows, I had realized they were friends with someone who had abused me a year prior,” explains Rina.
“I felt confident enough to speak to them about it, expecting them to just take a step back from him. I tried to diminish how serious it was because of the stigma of those accusations and was still only met with isolation from the group as they tried to hear him out and continued to spend more and more time with him.
“Even after detailing what had happened, they didn’t want to realize how uncomfortable it was to be placed in a woman’s experience (the group was mostly men). So after months of this, the friendship changed completely and had me spinning in a whirlwind of emotions of blaming myself for any and every action I took.”
Clockwork Gibbons
Clockwork Gibbons [Molly Scott – Guitar/Vocals Aimee Bailey – Drums, Liam Scott – Bass Guitar] are known live for their dynamic blend of textures evolving from ambient and psychedelic soundscapes into heavier, darker territories driven by a progressive rhythm section.
Taking inspiration from the Tarot card and the new potential it forsees, this bold new track marks a significant turning point in the band’s journey. ‘The Fool’ is an honest capsule of their live unit, taking you on a sonic rollercoaster that showcases the alt/rock trio’s signature balance between visceral fuzzed-up stadium tones and intimate dystopian dreamscapes.
Molly said “We are buzzing to finally get our first single out there! ‘The Fool’ has been a long time in the making but we’re so excited to be able to share it with our fans.”
Sungaze
Ohio’s genre-bending masterminds Sungaze are back with ‘Feel Better Tomorrow’: a feel-good alt-indie anthem that speaks to the reality of battling chronic illness and health anxiety.
Lo-fi guitars quickly give way to lush, shimmering leads at the start of the track, which are then brought back to earth by vocalist Ivory Snow’s honest musings on what her life has looked like since the 2017 freak accident that eventually led to a life-altering diagnosis.
While Snow had been contemplating writing about her health journey for some time, during the final week of 2024 the stars aligned in such a way that she could no longer put it off.
Ivory shares, “The way this song came to be feels a little bit divine. Ian [Hilvert, lead guitar] and I were taking a walk around our neighborhood, going over our to-do lists for the following day when we’d planned to work on recording some new song ideas. The conversation eventually shifted to the topic of promotion. We’ve often bemoaned the struggle that is balancing the time and effort needed to put ourselves ‘out there’ with the need for income and the time that working a day job requires. On this particular day, I realized just how angry I was about the hand I had been dealt–I spent the majority of my 20s in various states of ‘unwellness’, ranging from months spent bedridden and countless ER trips, to large swaths of time where on the outside everything looked normal but inside I was a dissociated, anxiety-ridden mess, struggling just to make it through the day. I felt like my chance at realizing my dreams had been taken from me and it was hard not to blame my body. If I had been a ‘normal’, healthy 20-something, I know my 20s would have looked a lot more like living out of a van with my best friends for weeks at a time, playing in new cities and building connections, and a lot less like the interiors of the ERs and doctor’s offices where I became a frequent-flyer. I didn’t say it out loud, but during that conversation, I realized the time was approaching where I would need to actually confront all of these feelings in some way, and I could feel a song would be coming.”
Instead of hitting the studio and crossing items off the to-do list the following day, Snow found herself sick with a head cold and stuck at home.
Ivory continues, “Ian went to the studio the next day and I stayed home. About mid-way through the afternoon, I get an email from him containing an mp3 titled ‘Feel Better Tomorrow’. It was an instrumental track based on a riff he had been playing around the apartment for a few days prior. I was immediately sucked in and I knew this was the song. We ended up restructuring it a couple times before landing on what it is today and it was definitely a labor of love. There were times where I think we both wanted to give up on the track, but we pushed through and trusted the process and ended up with what may be my favorite song yet. It didn’t turn out the way we initially planned, but it came out the way I think it was meant to be. In a way, that turn of events ended up mirroring my experience with chronic illness better than I could have planned.”
Lynne Aswani
Sensational and Soulful Kenyan artist Lynne Aswani releases her profoundly moving and empowering new single, ‘Your Dark’, in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The song tells the courageous story of people betrayed and sexually assaulted by someone and their powerful journey of reclaiming their light and shifting the shame back to the abuser.
‘Your Dark’ reflects the lived experiences of many survivors of sexual assault around the world. Through soul-stirring lyrics, powerful vocals and raw emotion, the song captures the pain, confusion, and grief of such trauma while ultimately celebrating healing, strength, and reclaiming one’s power. At its core is a deeply resonant message inspired by Gisèle Pelicot from France: “Shame must change sides.”
“This song is about breaking the silence and taking back the narrative in the society,” says Lynne Aswani. “For too long, survivors of sexual assault have carried the weight of shame that was never theirs to bear; The shame belongs to the perpetrators. Your Dark is a declaration that the shame must change sides.”
Anika Joshi
Australian based singer-songwriter, Anika Joshi has released her brand new single ‘Losing My Mind’.
Following her timeless upbeat single ‘Running Out Of Time,’ this new single softens the groove and dives into Anika’s poeticism to reflect the feeling of being stuck in the timeline of a tumultuous relationship, even when the other person has already swam away from it.
Anika states ‘Whenever I feel the need to let out my feelings and express myself song writing has been the best relief for me. As soon as I sit down with my guitar and a notebook, I feel like there’s an endless possibility of words and melodies. This track flowed through my pen so easily because I wrote it in a therapeutic rush.”
Sonically inspired by the likes of Renee Rapp, Dhruv, Taylor Swift, Lucy Darcus and Olivia Rodrigo, Anika wanted to create a musical buildup, starting from sparse piano chords to swift strings, to crashing drums as she belts the aching line ‘I’ve only realised, I haven’t left your timeline.’
Produced by Emmy and ARIA award winner Sean Carey, with keys by Beau Golden, the track creates a gradual build-up to sonically express the different stages of loss by intertwining shimmering vocals with dramatic instrumentation.
Dahlia Blaxx
Dahlia Blaxx are a brand new indie rock duo emerging from Sheffield. They are made up of multi-instrumentalist producer Phia, and songwriting vocalist Tyni Dancer.
They recently released their debut single ‘Next Life’. Written by Phia, the track hints at feeling almost equipped for success in this life, yet being held back by the chaotic tendencies of ADHD. Thus, in the next life will do better without being in front and behind simultaneously.
In terms of their sound they say, “Imagine if Britney Spears made music with Brian May, with a side of gritty addictive basslines. Sounds intriguing, right?”
Valeska Rautenberg
Valeska is a passionate musician, music and vocal coach. Her new alt-pop EP blends indie and singer-songwriter influences with a dash of experimental flair. It explores themes of end times, grounding, proud misfithood, and the beauty of non-conformity. Each track is a little sonic rebellion—a heartfelt reminder to stay true in a world that often demands otherwise.
Stand out track ‘The End of the World’ is inspired by the final, iconic moments of the movie Fight Club—two souls, hand in hand, watching the world explode. Anchored by brooding guitar riffs, ethereal vocals, and eerie sound textures, the track builds an atmosphere both haunting and hypnotic. It paints a vivid picture of a crumbling world, where love and destruction entwine in a bittersweet dance. This is a song for the romantics of ruin—a call to embrace the chaos, set the world on fire, and watch it all fall apart together.
Julie Caldwell
Julie Powell Caldwell is a 51 year old mother of two children, and the daughter of recently deceased mother who suffered from Alzheimers. In the past four years, she has managed to make, in the margins, the record she has been trying to make since she picked up the guitar at 18 and learned how to play ‘Closer to Fine’ on a long bus ride.
In this, her 10-song album, Julie Caldwell’s songs are lifted from their singer-songwriter origins into the realm of vintage pop music where country, rock, jazz and folk play well together. The project came about during COVID when drummer/bassist/keyboardist/engineer, Marlon Patton, left his home in NYC to ride out the pandemic in Athens, GA. To pass the time, Julie and Marlon moved into Jim Hawkins’ Studio 1093 for a week, curious where the project would go. They laid down basic tracks live – Julie playing either piano or acoustic guitar and Marlon playing either drums or bass.
From there, they layered other instruments and sent the files to guitarist Colin Bragg in Atlanta. He worked his considerable magic, composing layer upon layer of guitar tracks (and some fretless bass) to bring a real fullness to the music. What resulted was something that surprised everyone. This collection of songs looks at life and love from a variety of vantage points, exploring a range of experience and emotion as well as genres and sonic environments. Find a comfortable chair, or a country road, and settle in for a good listen.
Standout track ‘Castle’ “explores the tension between the desire for freedom and the need for the safe haven of the shore. The song’s lush and lilting arrangement draws the listener into the river’s flow and jolts her back into the memories of what she left in the more rollicking chorus. A tribute to both the yearning of wanderlust and the lingering longing for home,” says Julie.
Start From Scratch
Start From Scratch are a Glasgow Glittercore Punk Group, and their new EP is a culmination of 31 years of feminine rage – with a few giggles thrown in for good measure. “Making this EP gave me a sense of identity when I was lost deep in post-natal depression – and although it isn’t about Motherhood, it certainly acts as a voice for women who are made to feel invisible,” explains singer Fennella.
Stand out track ‘Always’ is glittercore heartbreak at its most intense—feminine, furious, and haunting. It starts delicate and dreamy, but quickly unravels into something much darker. The repetition in the lyrics becomes obsessive, almost ritualistic, like a spell cast in a moment of rage. There’s no neat resolution, no tidy break-up. Just a lingering presence, clawing at the edges of every new touch, every kiss. It’s not just about being left behind—it’s about refusing to disappear.
Check out more of our recent submissions via the playlist below!
