grammy's review: best new artists

It’s always interesting to see who performs at a show like this. Obviously the Recording Academy wants artists from the main award categories to perform so they can max out on publicity. But at the same time, if you're an artist who has already made it in their career, an opportunity like this might not really jump out. On the other hand, if you're an emerging artist, performing at a huge award show allows you to reach a whole new audience, which is why we wound up with 8 back to back performances from the entire best new artist category. This made up about half of the performances, followed by tribute performances, and a handful of established artists performing just because. For new artists, in order of when they performed, we saw: The Marías, Addison Rae, Katseye, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren, Lola Young, Olivia Dean, and, finally, Sombr. 

Diving into these performances, I thought The Marías were a bit of a let down. Maybe this is a hot take because I know some people loved it, but to me it was just meh. Let me preface, I love this band and their music. I think they have such an original sound and have carved out their space in music from their first EP in 2017. However, this performance brought the energy down and did not have much visual interest. There was a blue set, paired with smoke and projections of calm rippling water, which I guess was a good reflection of the song they performed and the album overall. I appreciated the ethereal vibes and that they were the only new artists to have a full band on the stage, but sadly I don’t think it met the level of entertainment and production that was brought by some of the other artists. 

Moving on to the next new artist, Addison Rae. Addison Rae was the only performer who did not step foot on the Grammy’s stage. Unlike the others, her performance was pre-taped, which I think was a good choice. Addison is a true rookie in the music industry. We’ve seen her rebrand from TikTok stardom to a messy pop aesthetic. In her debut tour, she received some criticism for her live singing. I think this is a valid critique, but I also don’t think you need to have an amazing voice to make certain genres of music. The synth pop / hyper pop blend uses auto-tune and vocal editing to its advantage. In many cases, it would sound weird to pair a synth heavy song with raw vocals, so I don’t fault her for not standing out in this area. Think Charli XCX. No one’s going to a Charli show to hear jaw dropping vocals, they are going to dance and see a performance. 

So, getting back to Addison, I think it worked to her benefit to have a pre-taped performance and she was able to deliver something captivating, despite being somewhat random. She began the performance on the back of a delivery truck, wearing this purple coat that I can only describe as a bedazzled hocus pocus cape. The back up dancers and camera movement provided an energy boost that was much needed after “No One Noticed”. 

This performance bled into Katseye performing “Gnarly”, which was half pre-taped and half live. Katseye kept the energy up, like we knew they would. I thought it was well executed and a good way to blend Addison’s performance back into the live Grammy’s performances, but that's about it. Nothing out of this world, but they fulfilled their role. Side note: It’s still crazy to me that a song like “Gnarly” made it to the Grammy’s stage, but I would choose that over “The Ordinary” any day. 

In this same light, I thought Leon Thomas’s performance of “Mutt” was agreeable. His vocals are great, he shredded on the guitar, and sonically everything worked. Nothing standout, but he delivered. We know he has great vocals, and the guitar definitely added to the performance. I heard one of the New York Times Popcast hosts say he’s attempting to take on the role of H.E.R. or Anderson Paak. I think the guitar lent itself to the H.E.R. allegations and his overall energy is more Anderson Paak, but I’m not mad at it. I also love to see a child actor rebrand. 

Next up, poor Alex Warren. His performance started with him getting popcorn then walking into the arena singing his one hit wonder. Before this performance, I was not a fan. I don’t like his song, I think it gives corporate pop in the worst way, and I think his transition into music was his last grasp at fame after his TikTok career. After his performance, I still hate the song, but boy do I feel bad for him. His earpiece immediately malfunctioned and he was off beat from the start. Since he had a full choir accompanying him, it was blatantly obvious that there was an issue with his timing. Plus, as viewers we watched him rip out his earpiece before the chorus. He was able to get back on beat and I think he pulled the performance off as best he could, but you could see his frustration for sure. For me, this mishap made his performance. It made me want to pay attention to a song I hate just to see what happened next. Overall, it humanized him and gave the audience something to talk about. 

Lola Young delivered a stellar version of her hit song ‘Messy’. Just her, sat at a piano, delivering an emotional performance and beautiful vocals. The camera was pointed straight at her and she looked right down the barrel, adding to the intimacy and vulnerability of the song. I loved seeing her return to performing after her hiatus, and hope that her time away prepped her for this next era of her career. Overall, great performance and I’m excited to see what she does next. 

Olivia Dean. A bottle of sunshine. Ended up winning the category of best new artist. Delivered a great performance of “Man I Need”. Nothing unexpected. We know she has great vocals and can deliver live. I enjoyed the gold background of her set and her use of the microphone as a prop. Honestly, I don’t have much to say beyond that. She’s carved out her space in pop music. I don’t think it's the most complex music, but she makes it seem effortless and definitely deserves recognition for her work. 

The last to perform from this category was Sombr. Loved his outfit and the microphone he used. He didn’t do too much on stage, but added some intrigue by swinging the mic around and walking around the audience for part of the performance. There was some criticism on his song choice. He performed “12 to 12”, which is popular but not his top song. I liked the choice but understand where people are coming from. They did him dirty by immediately cutting to Benson Boone after the song. The outfit choice and male popstar of it all definitely led to that comparison, but Sombr did it better.