Peach PRC

A social-media breakout who quickly earned her place in the hyperpop pantheon, Sharlee Jade Curnow dubbed herself in dual honor of Princess Peach from Super Mario and an online abbreviation for “porcelain.” Born in Adelaide, Australia, in 1997, she first hit music obsessives’ radar with 2019’s “Blondes,” a guitar-laced come-on to a friend that quickly became an online smash. Her 2020 follow-up came with “Colourblind,” a blippy synth-pop cut inspired, in part, by her synesthesia (i.e., experiencing certain music as visual colors). Even after signing to a major label, Curnow maintained her DIY knack for contrasting incisive lyrics with giddy vocals on tracks like 2021’s “Josh” and 2022’s “Forever Drunk.” “I’ve got to tell the story from the beginning,” she told Apple Music in 2023. “Usually, I’ll start with a verse: I’ll set the scene [and] tell the story, and then the chorus is driving it home.” Messiness may be a key part of the youthful emotional landscape Curnow maps out in real time, but she conveys that sensation with streamlined efficiency—as heard on her utterly euphoric 2024 live EP. By pairing confessional lyrics with undeniable synth-pop instincts, Curnow doubles up on catharsis and remains an ideal upstart for the anything-goes 2020s.