Lucy Park, The Army, The Navy, PS Hitsquad and Any Young Mechanic: these are the four acts making our summer.

God, it’s a bit hot, isn’t it? Wonderland HQ has recently acquired some air conditioning, and just in time. All that’s missing is an Aperol Spritz and a suncream factor above 50, and I’m happy. 

June has been one of 2026’s stronger months for musical releases. Atop the pile is undoubtedly Olivia Rodrigo’s excellent third album, you seem pretty sad for a girl in love, an emotional rollercoaster of a break-up record that cements its maker as one of her generation’s defining songwriters, with a level of craft and charisma that her idol and collaborator Robert Smith would be proud of. Elsewhere, Vince Staples took a stylistic left-turn to great avail, horsegiirL healed nature with her debut album, and Skrillex unleashed his latest opus. 

With festival and gig season well underway, we’re gloriously exposed to new finds right now. And these four rising acts have stood among the masses of talent. London alt R&B gem Lucy Park, fresh from her breakthrough H.LLS collaboration, is showcasing a sumptuous musicality and rich lyrical nuance. The Army, The Navy are the LA duo with folk tendencies, punk attitude, and a hell of a good debut album to their name. 

Also, PS Hitsquad is the South London rapper showing there is still life in the UK drill scene if its key artists are willing to be experimental and adaptable. And last but not least, Aussie quintet Any Young Mechanic are the chillest dudes, coolest cucumbers and the future of indie folk Down Under. 

So what are you waiting for? Get to know these four diamonds before everyone else does. Keep scrolling…

Lucy Park

Lucy Park has the ability to make one dizzy. Through her dazzling vocals, warm and rewarding instrumentals, and emotionally potent songwriting, the London singer-songwriter has been steadily putting together a gorgeous body of music, including last year’s vivacious EP “GOOD GRACES”, and this year is further augmenting her sonic portfolio. May brought “BLUE SASHIKO” and this month has gifted us (you guessed it) “DIZZY’. Before both solo tracks, though, she got the collaborative juices flowing with a mesmerising link-up with enigmatic duo H.LLS on “GUERILLAZ”, elevating her stock ahead of a busy rest of 2026. 

Listen to “DIZZY”…

What is the thing that makes you the most dizzy?

Competing noise on a hot day, get me out. 

What’s your favourite place to write a song? 

I love to write while in transit – either on the train or in a car. Something about looking out at all of the people living their lives around me helps get me out of my regular train of thought. Small things I see around me tend to spark lyric ideas that I wouldn’t have ended up at closed inside a studio.

How did the H.LLS collaboration come about? 

I got put in a session with them by my A&R, Bayley, who thought we would be a good creative match, and he was right! I’ve made a good bit of music with them, hopefully the rest will see the light of day.

What’s the best lyric you’ve ever written?

I think the lyrics in “Blue Sashiko” were really fun to write because I used sewing and stitching metaphors throughout. Perhaps my favourite is: ‘Hanging on needle and thread / you could catch another stitch before you make your bed / lie in it no wonder.’

Why do you make the music that you make? 

I don’t know what else to do with myself. Only trick I got.

The Army, The Navy

Connecting as artistically ambitious undergraduates at Loyola University in New Orleans, Sasha and Maia soon found a shared musical connection revolving around modern folk and punkish attitude. They’ve shared a handful of impactful EPs, but their recent debut album, Fake Brave Life, is a soaring step upwards. Jampacked with subtle emotional intensity, progressive compositions, with the pair’s seamless chemistry at the core, it’s a record that gives far more than it takes.

Listen to the album…

Which one of you is the army, which one is the navy? Or do you both partake across the board?

Neither of us really identifies with either name, but vibe-wise, we say that Sasha is The Army and I’m The Navy. But there’s no deep reason why we are in those roles; it’s purely based on vibes. It doesn’t really matter to us! 

How can life be both fake and brave? 

The concept of being Fake Brave is feigning courage as a means to accomplish something scary and new. We have to be fake brave when we share our music with the outside world and open it up for critique and criticism, as well as praise. Being in the public eye is daunting, and we practice fake bravery every time we step into the spotlight. As opposed to the words fake and brave existing independently of each other, the theme of our album is the words combined, fake brave. This entire career of being a musician is centred around pretending you have a certain level of confidence in yourself and in your craft, and that confidence is learned through the process of faking it til you make it for us.

What’s your favourite thing about working with one another?

I think all artists experience spells of self-doubt and insecurity. Since Sasha and I are a duo, we are always there to lift each other up when one of us feels low. When one of us is feeling lyrically uninspired, the other can carry the weight. When one of us is anxious about performing, the other is there to soothe those nerves and provide security and stability. I can’t even imagine going into this career alone; it is so daunting and scary, and there is so much to learn. It’s easy to feel like you don’t know what you’re doing half the time, and it takes significant pressure off of both of us to know we’re in it together. Sasha and I have a very strong connection, musically and personally, which allows us to feel very free and comfortable when we write with one another. We are extraordinarily lucky to have each other in this career. I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else.

What’s the best song ever written?

I think this is a really subjective question, the answer changes almost constantly, and I don’t know if I have a clear answer to it. Certain songs hold a greater emotional weight in our hearts, for example, 2 Collide and Down Debbie/Reservoir. But there are also songs from our old projects that mean so much to us because they act as signifiers of certain points in our lives, like Persimmon. Persimmon was written in the fall before anything major had really happened in our careers, and it felt like one of the first really good songs we ever wrote together. But our favourite songs are ever-changing. 

What does it mean to you to release your debut album?

We are truly elated. It feels so incredible to release this music we’ve spent so many years curating and working on. We feel so grateful for our fan base and the talented producers and musicians we have had the pleasure to collaborate with. This album will be the first of many for us and it just feels like the beginning of our careers. We can’t wait!

PS Hitsquad 

Peckham-born rapper PS Hitsquad has been knocking around the UK drill scene for over a decade, always one of its sharpest lyricists, a founding member of one of the scene’s outstanding collectives, Zone 2. Time inside has only grown his lore, and as he has returned, better than ever, finding his consistency and fine-tuning his artistic approach. His highly anticipated and deeply personal debut album, Life on License, will be unleashed on 3rd July, and looks set to further cement PS as one of UK rap’s most important players for years to come.

What’s the best thing to do with an evening in Peckham?

I haven’t been there in a minute, but Prince of Peckham seems lit.

You’ve grown boundlessly as a writer since your early days. What do you put that down to? 

Experience is the best teacher.

What’s been your most profound life lesson? 

Oh that’s a deep one still, but I would say everything really does happen for a reason, if you know what I’m saying? Like everything happens for a reason and sometimes you might not get the reason. Like I’ve been in situations where I didn’t entirely know what was going on or why it was happening, but then I would look back at it afterwards and I’m like alright cool I kind of get it.

Do you think UK drill can make a renaissance? Or have we evolved beyond it?

I think we’re in a time where there are so many different sounds and bare sounds crossover and interlink you know what im saying? I feel like you can do anything like drill included, it just depends on how you do it, and what spin you’re putting on it.

What do you want Life On Licence to achieve? 

I want this album to paint a picture, you get me? And give the world an insight into who I am and what a lot of others like me are up against, you know what I’m saying? Hopefully this rounds off a chapter of my life in some type of  play / justice kind of thing, you get me.

Any Young Mechanic

Tarntanya/Adelaide-based quintet Any Young Mechanic feel like they could have plucked right out of a village pub from hundreds of years ago, and given Logic Pro X. But their folky indie anthems are also a breath of fresh air, as sharp and modern as anything you’ll hear coming from the guitar renaissance. Debut album The Modern Shoe Is Ruining The Foot dropped via Warner Records / 23 Recordings in early June, and is a charming, compelling collection of narrative-driven cuts backed by intricate and endearing musical backdrops. 

Listen to the album…

Who are your Aussie idols?

The Go-Betweens are musically maybe the best Australian band ever, especially in the troubled 80s. One of the great songwriters working today, Julia Jacklin – every album of hers is devastatingly brilliant. Massive shout out as well to Folk Bitch Trio, who are just incredible to see live – we really look up to them.

Will Kangaroos eventually take over the world? If not, are you sure?

They are actually – the Australian government has a scheme in its latest budget to build an enormous bridge from Sydney to Auckland so they can hop over and get started with New Zealand. 

Where does your love of folk music stem from?

Crucially, we don’t see it as a traditionalist nostalgia thing. We love folk for its foregrounding of community and storytelling, for the human imperfections that arise through the process of making it, and for its balance of joy and empathy. The band Big Thief were also crucial to revealing folk music’s modern-day possibilities – their 2022 album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You is a huge touchstone for us. 

Why do you think the modern shoe is ruining the foot?

The answers are all in the album, we promise. If you want a hint, here: it’s not really about shoes.

Describe your debut album as a colour, an emotion, and a culinary dish?

Parchment; the happiness of spotting a stray cat in the street;  and a smorgasbord of incongruous bits and condiments that closer resemble a Miró than a meal – set upon a plate you’ve owned for longer than you can remember.

Words – Ben Tibbits