Welcome to The Scouting Report, a monthly list of 10 Minnesota artists with exciting new projects, as curated by our local music team. If you like these picks, check out The Local Show on Sundays from 6 to 8 p.m., hosted by Diane. For more music discovery from The Current, watch for Jeffrey Bissoy's The Come-Up, highlighting new local hip-hop and more. Also, each Thursday, The Current's music director Jade picks great new tracks from around the world.

Dark Bunny

Dark Bunny’s single “Overcast” caught our ears with crafty production featuring a looped, thumpy drum pattern that’s supporting tasteful, in-and-out guitar and synth licks. Emily Youel’s voice is on-brand with the delicate, sensitive singers of today’s indie music. Think Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, but with a fuzzier, more reverb-heavy band. Be on the lookout for upcoming performances at The Treasury on July 13 and 7th Street Entry on July 29. - Diane 

Ka Lia Universe 

Ka Lia Universe is an artist that found international success even before Minnesotans could claim her. Universe is so prolific in writing and producing music and videos that she releases a new single almost every month. Her latest “Ib Nrab (Half)” has garnered more 50,000 YouTube views in a little over two weeks. The single mixes her native Hmong with English, weaving a story of love gone wrong over a clattering slice of swirl-pop. You'll swoon over the golden swoops and dips hidden within the melody. - Youa Vang 

Despondent 

Wafting in like a cloud of humid summer air, Despondent’s dreamy, thoroughly winning EP Other Girls Too should be mandatory listening for fans of shoegaze-y jangle-pop like Alvvays. Fronted by new-in-town transplant Nora Schlang, whose guitar and vocal stylings can also be heard in national indie-pop act Caution, Despondent also features the work of talented locals David Morawski, Joe Cristo (The Shrinking Violets), and Jaxon Vesely (Changeling). “Changes” showcases the band’s talent for shabby-brilliant ’80s and ’90s college rock reminiscent of Guided by Voices. Schlang’s tender, plaintive vocals contain equal measures of melancholy and mirth like Bethany Costentino’s first few Best Coast records. - Zach McCormick

Jonatha Brooke & The Cello Songs Project

There is something very unassuming about Jonatha Brooke. A gifted and prolific songwriter since the ’90s, Brooke continues to break boundaries through her charming character and honest self-expression. A Twin Cities resident for about the past five years, she has gone somewhat unnoticed in the wider spectrum of the music industry – but those who know, know. Her newest single “New Dress” provides a glorious melody underscored by classical instrumentation by The Cello Songs Project. Listening to “New Dress” is almost like going on a short but moving journey. Brooke performs live on June 24 at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church. - Diane

DJ Yasmeenah

I want to go to every Yasmeenah party. I recently saw her open for pop star Rina Sawayama at First Avenue, where she spun a super-fun set featuring Missy Elliott, Baby Tate, and lots of dance music. Her curation felt approachable and inspired, and she offered the crowd water bottles as she danced behind the decks. Yasmeenah curates and hosts Unbothered, a monthly radio show on Verge.fm, and she’ll perform at Afropunk in Minneapolis on Juneteenth (Sunday, June 19).

Jonny Darko

Jonny Darko composes music that feels. It’s steady and precious, but also moody, dark, and complex with a base of heavy electronics, samples, and vocal filters. Trap beats will make any song sound current, and Jonny Darko has the right touch for this wave of popular music. His latest single, “Moon,” might even attract James Blake fans with its layered electro harmonies and featuring vocalist Kaylee Kitzman. - Diane 

Craishon

Craishon’s hype new single “Needs” starts and ends in the blink of an eye. It’s quick in speed and length with not an ounce of wasted space. This up-and-coming artist’s extended repertoire is quite impressive in production and artistry. His sound is familiarly enjoyable – not far from the likes of acclaimed chill/vibey R&B heroes Solange and Frank Ocean. Comparisons to such artists can only come from real talent, and Craishon has got it – from his sultry singing voice to his innate sense of groove. - Diane 

Clare Lockman

Clare Lockman’s upcoming EP, Aquamarine Dream, is exactly that – hazy, dense, and fresh as a strong sea breeze. It’s salty, sandy, cold, alive. The record was co-produced at Sparta Sound studios by Rich Mattson and mastered at Audioactive by Tom Garneau. New single “Whiskey Blues” evokes a longing for a life not lived to its fullest and continued striving to find humanity in others. It stands on her wonderful lyricism and tells of a lover’s crimes. Lockman will release the EP in August. - Youa Vang

Andy Ulseth

Time heals, and time changes. Andy Ulseth’s latest collection of music continues where he left off, but benefits from reflection after pain. “How We’ve Changed," the collection’s title track, is gently pensive and furiously grateful at the same time. Containing a lust for life and beautiful harmonies, the song weaves together folksy tunefulness reminiscent of solo Ben Gibbard with an infectious repeating chorus. Ulseth releases How We’ve Changed at the Aster Café on June 24 with support from Emily Haavik. - Youa Vang

Hotline TNT

Hotline TNT seem to relish being the Twin Cities’ punk scene’s best-kept secret. The project is the brainchild of Will Anderson, a Midwest native who developed a knack for fuzzed-out, speaker-shredding riffs during his time in Washington-based stonergaze rippers Weed. In Hotline TNT, Anderson sweetens his blistering guitars with open-hearted power-pop melodies that nod to Denton, Texas, punks like Marked Men as well as emo innovators of the ’90s. The band’s latest project is a 10-minute, four-track EP called When You Find Out that opens with the sublime and shivering “Ten Feelings,” which warbles under layers of distortion and Built to Spill’s high and lonesome western malaise. - Zach McCormick