Stephen Thompson

Bisa Kdei's spirited and playful highlife music has made him a star in his native Ghana — and marked him for crossover success as West African music gets its hooks into worldwide audiences.

Christelle Bofale grew up steeped in the music of her Congolese parents — influences that only deepen the languid textures of her lush, jazzy, deliberately paced folk songs.

Baby Rose's voice is a remarkable instrument: It dispenses weary, heartsick ache with the deep blues of a woman trice her age.

Cloud Rat condenses its speedball grindcore into two-minute bursts of wild, unhinged aggression — the stuff of absolute sonic overload.

Alexandra Levy makes music for maximum intimacy: Augmented by acoustic guitars, she frequently sings in a weary, tortured whisper.

William Doyle builds a power-pop blowout that's almost overwhelming in its grandiosity.

New Orleans' Sweet Crude sports a brightly booming pop sound and Cajun influences that extend to its bilingual lyrics.

Nigerian singer-songwriter Yemi Alade has become a major Afropop star in recent years. She recently appeared on Beyoncé's The Lion King: The Gift.

Born in Las Vegas, educated at Berklee and based in Nashville, Savannah Sgro is a hugely promising pro with a flair for drama and an eye toward several genres at once.

The dreamy psych-pop band Shana Falana throws a lot at the wall — bright lights and visuals in its live shows and busily churning guitars and ethereal vocals — but also knows when to keep it simple.

Ella O'Connor's gripping, introspective songs radiate warmth and intensity at the same time. Her debut album reflects on her search for a place in the world dating all the way back her own birth.

Sammy Brue has had a reasonably typical career trajectory, until you spot that he's still just 18. In "Teenage Mayhem," he unleashes three minutes of irresistibly vein-bulging breakneck rowdiness.

Tré Burt's sandy, lived-in voice recalls Jeff Tweedy at his most ambling and approachable. Burt's own wryly thoughtful songs roll along with a lo-fi charm that never undercuts their propulsiveness.

Ohmme's music feels experimental and strange yet still accessible, with an underlying gut-level rumble that keeps its songs from floating into the ether.

Parisalexa's sound draws heavily on the springy, buoyant playfulness of '90s R&B, but she's too genre-fluid, rangy and clever to sound like a mere throwback.

Pianist and composer Lambert performs evocative, cinematic instrumentals wearing a mask. He's also released dance remixes of his works and collaborated with bands, singers and electronic musicians.

Nordista Freeze is only in his early 20s, but his creative lineage stretches farther back. As good-natured as it is infectious, his music sounds like an unseasonably pleasant spring Saturday.

Hook named herself after her own aptitude for writing catchy choruses, but her raps are bark and crackle so discordantly, you nod along so much as clench your teeth approvingly.

Naia Izumi won the 2018 Tiny Desk Contest in part due to his truly dazzling guitar technique. But to watch him intricately tap and whammy away, it's easy to lose sight of his remarkable vocals.

Heran Soun was deaf for much of his early childhood. His music bridges folk, rock, electronic and ambient music with the help of a soaring, deeply emotive voice.