Em Spel

Em Spel's intricate, flute-driven alt-folk sounds like nothing else in Chicago. Led by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Emma Hospelhorn, Em Spel's debut album, The Carillon Towers, was hailed by the Chicago Reader as "Scintillating" and by Dusted Magazine as "a folktale turned oddly, surreally modern, a magical realist scenario set in the right now." Hospelhorn is a flutist in avant-classical group Ensemble Dal Niente, and her discography includes work on flutes, bass guitar, and keyboards for V.V. Lightbody, Mute Duo, and others working in a diverse array of genres including folk, drone, garage rock, post-punk, and classical. In this solo endeavor, she fuses all of these influences with story-driven lyrics to create invitingly strange folk vignettes.

SSAANN

Milwaukee pianist and singer, Melissa Simes, started her solo project, SSAANN, in 2018, with a 4-piece band coming together in 2021. She and the members perform in venues and festivals across the Milwaukee area, and are preparing to release their first project in 2025. SSAANN is best interpreted as indie dream pop, sharing hypnotic echoes, mellow reverb and harmonies on Simes’ vocals, lush synth and vast guitar textures, driving drums, and a strong bass presence. Their music lies within the umbrella of “pop” music, but also provides space for shoegaze-inspired chaos and simplistic dreampop ecstasy.

*aya

*aya, a 21-year-old, Milwaukee-based, Palestinian singer/songwriter who isn't confined by genre. With the ability to move from hyperpop to indie to neo-soul, the constant is their jazz-leaning vocal approach. Inspired by artists like Jill Scott, Ari Lennox, Faye Webster and even Outkast, *aya's songs wrestle with love, loss, mental health, self-reflection and growth.