Ready

Most 15-year-olds are concerned with normal stuff like math tests and puberty. Clearly, Ruel—who was discovered at 12 and mentored by M-Phazes, a producer for Eminem and Amy Shark—isn’t your average kid. Three years on, his debut EP, Ready, is an introduction to a young Sydney songwriter with an old soul. Sung with passion and raspy depth, “Don’t Tell Me” was inspired by a family argument at the kitchen table, and “Younger” mourns a lost friendship with lines like “You left me in the dark/While you drink in the park.” If this is what Ruel is capable of at 15, it’s almost scary to think where he’ll be in a decade.