For similar artists to Lorde, I'd say the XX is the closest fit, both have that nocturnal, intimate "friend telling you a secret" vibe, but I won't really call them personal. Arctic Monkeys also have Lorde's expressive and inventive lyricism, also many nocturnal vibes, and they can be personal but you can also blast them at parties too, different songs for the occasion like Lorde. As for 'personal' music, but not necessarily sounding like Lorde, I've got Lena Raine's soundtrack for Celeste, which quickly became my favourite video game ever last year. It's a hard 2D platformer which uses climbing the game's titular mountain as a metaphor for dealing with anxiety and depression, the level design is genius and the soundtrack is absolutely fantastic. Other 'personal' artists for me would be Grouper/Liz Harris and Mount Eerie/Phil Elverum. Neither of them are that obscure, but I can't imagine playing them in front of strangers. Then there are some songs I wouldn't play in front of others in case I'd cry, like Phoebe Bridgers' "Funeral" or Wilco's "Ashes of American Flags".

But as for the more obscure artists that I want to promote, there's Russian indie rock band angelic milk. Their aesthetic is like what if Lana Del Rey fronted a garage rock band but she was a gothic lolita anime girl instead of a Hollywood songstress? As in the lyrics also glorify that mid 20th century America pop culture, but from a brattier, more immature perspective. "Rebel Black" is a perfect pop song about driving away to escape from small town boredom in the vein of the Smiths' "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out". Think of it as a song that would fit the scene in Perks of Being a Wallflower, which is fitting since its from their 2016 EP "Teenage Movie Soundtrack". Anyway, I first heard of them through their 'Band to Watch' article on Stereogum back in 2015. And in their interview with the lead singer, what really resonated with me was she how talked about being uncertain about the future and being more inspired by foreign (in this case Western) artists than her local scene. This made me think of how universal the appeal of music and the experience of being a teenager was. Rebel Black is honestly one of my favourite songs of the decade, it speaks to that fantasy just running away from it all.

As an aside, this whole thing about resonating because of an artist's interview also happened for me with Lorde. Of course, I had heard Royals, Team and the rest of Pure Heroine when they came out because it was huge, but I was more of a casual fan. Then in 2016, I saw Lorde wrote this about her second album: "Writing Pure Heroine was my way of enshrining our teenage glory, putting it up in lights forever so that part of me never dies, and this record – well, this one is about what comes next." After reading that, she had my full attention. It's like, you know sometimes you have those extremely strong feelings and kind of want to just jot them down to document it before the moment is gone and you would have wasted all that energy spent on having those emotions? So I had one of those moments where I was like "OMG Lorde is like me except talented, I have no choice but to stan". Yeah.

Last paragraph I promise it won't be that long! I just discovered this Chinese folk artist called Cheng Bi recently through her album "I want to waste time with you". Her music is very relaxing and soothing while still using a range of instruments so it's not monotonous. She already has 6 albums so there's quite a lot to dig into, and she also did a cover of Radiohead's "No Surprises" which I like a lot. Not exactly a personal artist for me, but more people should hear her for sure!