The #1 Destination For Indie Music Lovers

Seattle’s music scene is having a moment right now, with hometown heroes and rising talents alike dropping fresh music and hitting stages across the city. From Death Cab for Cutie’s genuine homecoming after two decades on a major label, to Sub Pop’s next wave of buzzy signees, to solo artists pushing bold new creative visions, here are seven Seattle-based artists worth your attention this September.

1. Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie is Seattle’s own indie-rock institution, the band behind decades-defining records like Transatlanticism and Plans. Their new album, I Built You a Tower — their first for indie label ANTI- after two decades on a major — came out in June and has been widely praised as some of Ben Gibbard’s sharpest songwriting in years. They closed out Bumbershoot as Sunday headliners on September 6, making this month a genuine homecoming moment for the band.

Death Cab for Cutie just released the official video for “Stone Over Water,” the latest single off their new album I Built You a Tower, a song about trying to hold it together through grief and self-reckoning, out now via ANTI-.

2. Aidan Gallagher

Aidan Gallagher is a self-produced singer-songwriter making cinematic pop, with over 76 million streams to date. His debut full album is complete, with singles rolling out now and a tour in the works. He’s built serious industry credibility along the way — a #22 spot on the Bandsintown Emerging Artist chart, a place in the 2020 Big Break Accelerator Program showcase (making him the youngest artist ever selected to play SXSW), and recognition from the Unsigned Only, International Songwriting, and Independent Music Awards competitions. He’s also known to many as a star of Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy,” named to Variety’s Power of Young Hollywood and IMDb’s Top Breakout Stars lists. Beyond music, he uses his platform to spotlight ocean conservation and environmental causes.

For an introduction to his sound, “DREAM” is the pick, a dark rock ballad about an elusive heartbreak that captures both his cinematic production sensibility and the rawer emotional pull beneath it.

3. Sera Cahoone

Sera Cahoone is a Seattle singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (formerly of Carissa’s Wierd) known for warm, twangy songcraft. She rejoined Sub Pop’s roster back in May with the single “Say Something” and is putting finishing touches on a full album due later this year; she also played Bumbershoot on September 5, right in the thick of this rollout.

Sera Cahoone just released the official video for “Hits Right,” off her new Sub Pop album I’ve Missed You All These Years — a wistful, bar-set portrait of feeling lonely in a crowd, out now.

4. Travis Thompson

Travis Thompson is a Burien-raised rapper who broke out in 2017 after Macklemore tapped him for a national tour and a Tonight Show appearance, going on to release projects like Runaways and BLVD BOY with guest spots from G-Eazy, Juicy J, and KYLE. Known for blending playful, hook-driven bars with candid, emotionally honest storytelling, he’s built a devoted following as one of Seattle’s most consistent hip-hop exports, and opened 2026 with “Roll Call,” a collaboration with fellow Seattle rapper Oblé Reed off the album Line Leaders.

He just released the official lyric video for his new single “Suit and Tie,” a raw, confessional track wrestling with mortality, addiction, and love.

5. Oblé Reed

Oblé Reed is a rising Seattle rapper who’s built a close creative partnership with fellow local hip-hop artist Travis Thompson, most recently teaming up on the single “Roll Call” off the album Line Leaders earlier this year. Known for introspective, emotionally layered songwriting that blends vulnerability with wit, he’s steadily building his own identity within Seattle’s hip-hop scene while riding the momentum of his collaborations with Thompson, including a shared moment in the spotlight at Bumbershoot.

He just released “que$t luv,” a new solo single reflecting on self-love, pressure, and the search for peace amid the noise.

6. Telehealth

Telehealth is a Seattle synth-driven post-punk duo, Alexander Barr and Kendra Cox, who built a devoted local following off their 2023 debut Content Oscillator. They signed to Sub Pop and released their sophomore album, Green World Image, back in May, and have been riding that momentum through the summer into festival season.

They’re now taking that momentum on the road with a fall U.S. tour, hitting cities including Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York, and Pittsburgh, with dates running from October 20 through October 28. They released the official video for “Yassify Me,” a sharp, satirical single off Green World Image that skewers performative online activism and cancel-culture optics with biting wit.

7. Aryana León

Aryana León, a Seattle Pop R&B artist whose EP PLEASURE earned her a spot in The Seattle Times’ 2025 Music Critics Poll, closed out her big year with a Bumbershoot set on September 5, riding the momentum of sharing festival bills with Chappell Roan and Remi Wolf.

Aryana León just released “Mesmerized,” the official video for part 2 of 4 in her upcoming visual album The Pleasure Project — a sapphic love story that frames pleasure as resistance, drawing on thinkers like adrienne maree brown and Audre Lorde.