Poppy at The Van Buren

Los Angeles-based performance artist-turned-pop star Poppy makes music that deftly balances art and commerce as she takes on multiple genres — from metal to pop and all points in between — while never losing her essential Poppy-ness in the process. She gained a substantial following on social media with her early videos, the subjects of which grew ever more absurd and bizarre. When she began making music for Diplo‘s Mad Decent label, Poppy’s commentary on social media and fame became even more meta; the self-referential electro-pop of 2017’s Poppy.Computer and the forays into nu-metal and dance-pop on the following year’s Am I a Girl? further blurred the project’s boundaries. In 2020, she boldly re-branded with the critically acclaimed, Grammy-nominated I Disagree, which fully adopted the pop-metal direction she had been teasing. Following 2021’s EAT EP, she released the live-to-tape Flux, which focused her riff-heavy execution even further. More genre explorations include 2023’s industrial-leaning Zig and 2024’s Negative Spaces, which dips into synth pop and punk. Following an all-star collaboration with Amy Lee and Courtney LaPlante on 2025’s “End of You,” she released her sixth LP Empty Hands in 2026.

Poppy emerged on YouTube in 2014 with a video of her eating cotton candy in silence. Viewers were baffled, yet it was just the start of Poppy’s brand of smart millennial theater. Wide-eyed, platinum blonde, and decked out in precious throwback outfits, Poppy’s calculated wholesome persona, budding style icon status, and tongue-in-cheek clips — wherein she filmed herself reading the Bible for nearly an hour, repeating her name for ten minutes, or inflating a plastic rabbit — combined the satirical, the subversive, and the just plain weird. In early 2015, she began releasing music, starting with a Lana Del Rey-ified version of Mac DeMarco‘s “My Kind of Woman.” Her first official single, “Everybody Wants to Be Poppy,” arrived months later. Signing with Island Records, she released the follow-up single “Lowlife” (and a remix featuring Travis Mills), a reggae-tinged jam that would serve as the first track on her debut EP, Bubblebath. Released in February 2016, the four-song set of catchy dance-pop showcased her musical range and sensibility, attracting comparisons to Grimes, Icona Pop, Melanie Martinez, and Charli XCX. That October, she issued the experimental ambient album 3:36 (Music to Sleep To), a collaboration with polysomnographists from the Washington University School of Medicine that was designed to promote healthy sleep and dreaming. A year later, Poppy’s official debut album, Poppy.Computer (Mad Decent), arrived and peaked within the Top 40 on both the Heatseekers and Independent Albums charts. On 2018’s Am I a Girl?, Poppy worked with Diplo, Grimes, and Lady Gaga collaborator Garibay on a set of songs that incorporated mainstream pop and nu-metal sounds and explored fame, fashion, and identity. While promoting the effort, she began incorporating increasingly heavy elements into her music, inspired by Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and Rob Zombie. In a similar vein as Am I a Girl? selections such as “Play Destroy” and “X,” Poppy’s 2019 single “Concrete” featured speedy metal riffs and pounding drums, adopting a sugar-sweet attack similar to Babymetal‘s. This new direction was fully realized on her third studio set I Disagree, which arrived in early 2020. Her first release on Sumerian Records, the album was also her first to chart on the Billboard 200. The brash, pop-metal style of I Disagree was a hit with critics and fans alike, resulting in an expanded deluxe edition, I Disagree (more). She continued an especially prolific period with Music to Scream To — the soundtrack to her graphic novel Poppy’s Inferno — and a holiday EP, A Very Poppy Christmas. To cap off her banner year, the I Disagree album cut “Bloodmoney” received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance, making Poppy the first female artist ever to be nominated in that category. The next year at the actual Grammy Awards ceremony, she performed a new track — the scream-packed “Eat” — which landed on EAT (NXT Soundtrack). Arriving a month after the release of her cover of Jack Off Jill‘s “Fear of Dying,” the aggressive EP also featured the track “Say Cheese.”

At the tail-end of 2021, Poppy released her fourth album Flux. At a compact nine songs, it was her most focused offering to date, blending numerous hard rock styles on a straightforward and cohesive attack produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen (NIN, Deafheaven). Led by the defiant and unrelenting single “FYB,” 2022’s Republic/Lava-issued Stagger EP paired thrashy, punk-metal riffs with melancholic alt-pop. Poppy started 2023 with the industrial metal-leaning “Church Outfit,” followed by a searing rendition of Canadian nu-metallers Kittie‘s 1999 track “Spit.” She also teamed with Stu Brooks and Danny Elfman for “They’ll Just Love You.” Capping a busy year, she joined PVRIS for a joint tour before the release of her fifth full-length, Zig (Sumerian), which featured additional singles such as the industrial-pop “Motorbike” and the vulnerable “Hard.”

Poppy began 2024 with a collaboration with alt-rock group Bad Omens on the song “V.A.N.” (“Violence Against Nature”), toured both as a headliner and opening act, then ended the year with her fifth album Negative Spaces. On it, she expands her already wide-ranging approach to include ’80s-inspired synth pop and pop-punk while welcoming collaborations with Knocked Loose and Bring Me the Horizon‘s Jordan Fish. In the midst of her epic They’re All Around Us tour, she teamed with Evanescence‘s Amy Lee and Spiritbox‘s Courtney LaPlante on “End of You,” which hit the Top 20 of the Hot Rock and Alternative Songs chart upon release in September 2025. She then returned to the studio with Fish for “Unravel” and “Bruised Sky” from her sixth album Empty Hands, which arrived in January 2026. The metal-laden assault featured additional single “Guardian.”

Mixing elements of metalcore, pop-punk, and even some light hip-hop, LANDMVRKS have built a solid following as one of Europe’s heavy bands, coming into their own with the energetic Lost in the Waves in 2021. A favorite on the live circuit, they’ve also amassed a considerable following in Germany, where Waves and The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been hit the upper reaches of the local album charts.

Hailing from Marseille, France, the band was the brainchild of Hate in Front singer Florent Salfati and drummer Nicolas Soriano. Initially working under the name Coldsight in 2014, Salfati intended to play only the guitar, but couldn’t find a vocalist that matched his vision. The rest of the band gelled with the addition of bassist Rudy Purkart and guitarists Thomas Lebreton (rhythm) and Nicolas Exposito (lead); the group soon changed their name to Landmarks, but amended the spelling within the year.

Amid a series of singles and well-received performances, including sets at England’s Deadbolt Festival and France’s Hellfest, LANDMVRKS released their debut album Hollow in 2016. The follow-up Fantasy arrived two years later, with new rhythm guitarist Paul Cordebard replacing Lebreton. Soriano was next to leave in 2019, with Kévin D’Agostino taking his place on the drum kit. During this period, the group toured even higher-profile dates, supporting Australian metalcore act Polaris on a trek through Japan and sharing bills with similar ensembles like While She Sleeps, Any Given Day, and Stray from the Path.

After waiting out the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, LANDMVRKS reconvened for their third album, Lost in the Waves. It proved to be their most accessible release without sacrificing what made them unique, and reached the Top 20 in Germany (where their label, Arising Empire, is headquartered). The de facto title track “Lost in a Wave” attracted new fans, and a 2022 reissue added a live set plus well-received new tracks including “Suffocate,” featuring vocals from Bertrand Poncet of Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, and “Death,” with a guest appearance by Drew York of Stray from the Path. The success of Lost in the Waves primed the pump for its follow-up, The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been, which outpaced its predecessor, peaking at number six on the German charts.

Buried In Jade stands as a career-defining moment for Thousand Below, distilling nearly a decade of sonic exploration into a cohesive yet diverse body of work. The album spans multiple sonic spectrums from crushing metalcore anthems and hook-heavy modern pop elements to atmospheric rock, heartfelt ballads, and the band’s signature post-hardcore roots. It’s a bold step forward—both sonically and thematically—for a band unafraid to grow beyond genre lines.

Produced by Austin Coupe (The Devil Wears Prada, Citizen, nothing, nowhere) — as well as Josh Gilbert on select tracks (“Palace Of Dread” “The Quiet And Cold”) and mixed by Joseph McQueen, Buried In Jade captures the essence of Thousand Below’s past while boldly forging their future.