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German songwriter, producer, and DJ Topic refers to his sound as "melancholic dance music." His songs typically combine striding house beats and light guitar melodies with yearning lyrics about heartache as well as dancefloor escapism. He made his full-length debut with 2015's Miles, and later scored a worldwide hit with 2019's "Breaking Me," featuring A7S. Some of his most well-known tracks, including 2021's "Your Love (9PM)" and 2022's "Kernkraft 400 (A Better Day)," are based on earlier dance hits.

Tobias Topic was born in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in 1992. He began producing music using a digital audio workstation when he was 16. Using social media to launch his career, he released his first single, "Light It Up" (with vocalist Jona Selle), in 2014. His debut album, Miles, appeared in 2015, containing several additional singles, including "Home" (featuring Nico Santos), which was certified platinum in Germany and Australia. He continued releasing additional charting singles such as 2016's "Find You" (with Jake Reese), 2017's "Break My Habits," and 2018's "Perfect" (with former Fifth Harmony singer Ally Brooke), which became his first song to reach the Billboard Dance/Electronic chart.

Topic's first major worldwide hit, "Breaking Me," featuring Swedish singer A7S (Alexander Tidebrink), was released during the final weeks of 2019, and hit the Top Ten in two dozen countries by the end of 2020. Topic reunited with Santos on the 2020 single "Like I Love You," and collaborated with A7S and rapper Lil Baby on "Why Do You Lie to Me." He also released the single "Lost" with rapper Samra.

In 2021, Topic and A7S released "Your Love (9PM)," a remake of "9 PM (Till I Come)" by ATB. The track was nearly as successful as the original, charting in dozens of countries. Topic released collaborations with Bebe Rexha ("Chain My Heart"), Clean Bandit ("Drive"), and Becky Hill ("My Heart Goes [La Di Da]") during the year, as well as "Ich bin weg (Boro Boro)" with Samra featuring Arash. "In Your Arms (For an Angel)," with Robin Schulz, Nico Santos, and Paul van Dyk, appeared in 2022; the track was based on van Dyk's "For an Angel." "Kernkraft 400 (A Better Day)," an A7S-sung remake of Zombie Nation's "Kernkraft 400," was also released during the year. Topic also collaborated with HRVY for the single "All or Nothing." ~ Paul Simpson

A Los Angeles singer/songwriter who started singing lead on tracks for well-known electronic artists, Sasha Sloan has been issuing her own electronic-tinged indie pop songs since 2017. She released a trio of well-received EPs ahead of the arrival of her acclaimed first full-length effort, 2020's outspoken Only Child. Sloan addressed feelings of hopelessness and social discord on 2022's I Blame the World, and continued to refine her sound on 2024's raw and intimate Me Again.

Throughout 2017, Sloan was the voice on singles and standout songs by the likes of King Henry, Kaskade, and ODESZA. She also sang lead on Kygo's "This Town" from the Stargazing EP, a five-song collection where she joined guests Justin Jesso and Selena Gomez. By late 2017, she'd begun releasing her own tracks, starting with the moody, tumultuous "Ready Yet" and following it up a month later with the melancholic "Runaway," which candidly chronicled a raw breakup with a long-term boyfriend. A barrage of singles including "Fall," "Normal," and "Here" all led up to the release of Sloan's debut EP, Sad Girl, which appeared in April 2018 on RCA Records. A pair of singles, "The Only" and "Faking It," followed later that year and were included on her second EP, Loser, which was released in November. In 2019, Sloan released a third EP, Self Portrait, and then joined Kygo for his song "I'll Wait" and released several of her own tracks, including the King Henry-produced "Lie." In 2020, Sloan released her first full-length effort, Only Child, and in 2021 she teamed up with Sam Hunt for the single "When Was It Over?" She later lengthened her stage name to Sasha Alex Sloan. 2022's I Blame the World saw Sloan deliver a deeply felt set of songs inspired by the malaise she felt during the COVID-19 pandemic. She left RCA the following year and issued Me Again independently in 2024, continuing to explore themes of depression and hopelessness. ~ Fred Thomas