Emily Wells

Singer-songwriter Emily Wells finally made waves with her third release, 2012’s Mama, before dropping off the map. She splashes chamber pop with samples, producing trip-hop in the vein of Portishead on tracks like “Mama’s Gonna Give You Love” and “Passenger.” This year, she resurfaced with Promise, a haunting album that occasionally defaults to a beautiful cacophony of electronica and drum machine beats. Fans of Lorde and Florence and the Machine should give this self-made prodigy a listen. (Kaufman)