Apocalyptic Circus Pop, Fantasy R&B, Emo R&B, Siren Pop, Dystopia (J)pop, and Korean Rock…by a Black woman! Plus, more incredible emerging artists and my aural immersion of the month.
October 21, 2026
I’m in indie-artist heaven lately.
Between the press releases landing in my inbox and emerging artists taking over every other video on my TikTok FYP, I keep stumbling into some of the best music I’ve heard in years. I’ve also been deliberately seeking out niche genres and finding artists within those scenes to support.
Naturally, that sent me down several extremely rewarding rabbit holes.
So, for this edition of Are You Listening Yet?, I’m sharing six incredible genres I had no idea existed, eighteen song recommendations from emerging artists I’ve been obsessed with, four artists who deserve a spotlight, and my May and June listening logs, AKA my Aural Immersion sessions.
Hopefully, by the end of reading this, you’ll leave with at least one new genre to explore and several new artists to add to your rotation!
I’m excited to get into it! But first…
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Fresh Finds From the Listening Lounge
First, let’s dive into the artists that led me to discover some new genres because holy crap am I happy I found them!
Tulle’s Needles (Apocalyptic Circus Pop)
Spotify | Apple Music | TikTok | Instagram | Website
I didn’t know there was a genre called apocalyptic pop until I came across Needles, which Tulle describes as apocalyptic circus pop! That name immediately stood out to me and, naturally, led me to do some digging.
And here’s what I found: Norwegian artist Tulle describes her music as apocalyptic pop, which is a genre she created after previously referring to her work as death pop. She says her music lives somewhere between indie and alternative, with recurring themes of existential dread, endings, beginnings, grief, religion, folklore, and rage.
Her song, Needles, might be the clearest example of what that sounds like.
I adore when a song’s production aligns with its lyrics, and this song is a prime example of that. The track starts with an unsettling instrumental and then dives into lyrics: “I’m too emotional. I’m trying to keep it in. I need just a minute to breathe.” Both the lyrics and production convey the feeling of panic within the first twenty-five seconds of the song’s start, and as the lyrics delve into darker territory – “What if I never find peace? I’m getting shortness of breath and the room is getting smaller. I used to be so forgiving, but now the pain just harbours. I think I’m drowning, I feel it, my lungs are caving in,” – breathing becomes almost its own character within the track as well.
The lyrics keep returning to lungs, suffocation, shrinking rooms, needles in the skin, feeling someone standing too close…Anxiety-inducing, yes, but it reads less like someone describing anxiety and more like someone being trapped inside the middle of a panic attack while desperately trying to convince themselves they’re still okay.
The song paints a vivid image with both its words and its sound, which makes it all the more unsettling. And allows the apocalyptic circus pop label to make all the more sense.
And something else I love about the production – buckle in, I’m sure there’ll be a ton of production glazing as I discuss these first few songs, as is always the case with me – is how it never feels interested in offering relief. It never loosens its grip, and instead, it feels as if it keeps tightening the room around you as the production builds, the song grows louder, and the heartbeat-like pulse continues pounding in the background.
The song’s atmosphere feels theatrical without becoming too campy, dramatic without becoming melodramatic, and everything slowly closes in until even the repeated “I can’t breathe you’re too close, and I feel like I might choke” starts sounding less like a lyric being sung and more like a part of the production itself.
If you read my music posts often, you already know I’m a very visual listener, and there are always scenes playing out in my head or images flashing across my mind as I listen to any record. So, visually…Well, this song elicits a lot of images!
It sounds like it should be played in American Horror Story, and immediately makes me think back on Freak Show’s darker scenes. It also takes me back to the 2016 clowns terrorizing random people for no reason. And I’d be lying if I said this song didn’t sound like something that should be playing in an asylum or exactly how an abandoned hospital that looks very season one episode one of The Walking Dead-ish – or worse – looks.
But most of all, I keep imagining an abandoned circus after everyone’s gone home (because duh). The lights are technically still on, but they’re flickering. The audience disappeared hours ago. Evil clowns with makeup running down their faces, and some poor fool wandering through empty tents while something unseen follows just out of frame…
That circus imagery isn’t accidental, either. Tulle has built much of her artistic world around clowns, circuses, and existential symbolism, describing herself as an artist interested in “ends and beginnings” and creating an entire multimedia universe around those ideas. It’s safe to say she’s done a wonderful job of articulating her visual world within the lyrics of her music – without explicitly describing it each time, too!
And ironically, despite how heavy the subject matter is, I don’t think this song feels hopeless. It feels aware; like someone recognizing they’re spiraling in real time and narrating every uncomfortable second of it.
I also appreciate that it never tries to romanticize anxiety. There’s no poetic metaphor trying to make suffering beautiful. It’s sweaty palms, shallow breathing, and feeling trapped inside your own body. Sometimes that’s all there is.
If apocalyptic pop sounds like this, then consider me a fan!
Want to keep reading? You can find this post on Substack!
