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Artists I Would Kill To Hear Collaborate
From Djo and MJ Lenderman to Hayley Williams, Dijon, and Mk.gee, these are some collaborations that I would go to great lengths to have happen.
Charli xcx and 2hollis
Charli and 2hollis are two incredibly strong artists dominating the electronic genre in their own way. Charli started leaning into hyperpop-style music after collaborating with SOPHIE on the Vroom Vroom EP and blended electronic influences with mainstream dance-pop elements in her 2024 album brat, as well as its remix album brat and it’s completely different but also still brat. 2hollis has been making serious waves since 2024, establishing himself as a prominent electroclash artist with hit tracks like “jeans” and “gold.” A Charli/2hollis collab would definitely be left-field, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t be interested, considering both artists make the kind of music that fuels the frenetic, sweaty, mosh-pit party scene. Charli’s vocals on a “jeans-“style 2hollis beat? Need.
Djo and MJ Lenderman
No, not just because they look alike if you squint (even Djo himself pointed out the resemblance during his appearance on Track Star). As a diehard Djo fan and someone who fell in love with MJ Lenderman’s music after first listening to it only recently, there’s something about this pairing that feels so right. There’s a similarity to their sonics that feels like they’d blend beautifully. MJ tends to pair lazy, Front Bottoms-esque vocals with heavily guitar-focused indie/alternative folk-country melodies that sound like they’d play in the ending credits of a damn good coming-of-age loser teenager movie. Djo, meanwhile, waltzes along the genre map, showcasing his range with a musical gamut that spans from garage prog-rock to stadium-rock ballads. Get them in the studio together (and maybe even throw Post Animal in the mix), and I think they could cook something up that would send r/indieheads in a tailspin.
Men I Trust and The Marías
Catch me sulking in the corner with my headphones turned all the way up if these two ever collaborate. These two female-fronted groups are powerhouses in the lush, atmospheric, dream-pop subgenre, and excel in highlighting the beauty of melancholia and reverie from “Show Me How” to “Only in My Dreams.” Men I Trust and The Marías similarly opened the door to what this type of music would sound like in other languages, Men I Trust in French and The Marías in Spanish, which I would love to hear explored further in a collaboration. A track about longing, heartbreak, unrequited affection, with whispery vocals and an instrumental infused with these groups’ typical jazz influences would ruin my life in the best way.
Hayley Williams, Dijon, and Mk.gee
I know this one might seem a little unrealistic, but just walk with me here. Dijon and Mk.gee are no strangers to collaboration, having a profound influence on each other’s music from production to writing, even performing on stage together. Both singer-songwriters have been considered heavy-hitters in the contemporary music scene, shaping modern music and melding R&B and alternative bedroom-pop in a way that’s nothing short of addicting and remarkable. The same is to be said of Hayley Williams, and (to me, at least) even that’s not enough to encapsulate the breadth of her talent. Williams, Mississippi-born, Tennessee-native, and twenty-odd years deep in the industry, can do anything: gospel, pop-punk, emo, new wave… you name it, Hayley Williams can do it, and she’ll do it damn well, too. These three artists have the capacity to craft something textured and multi-faceted, equal parts gritty and wavy, that explores anxiety or longing or desperation. Something with jagged edges but more than meets the eye.
