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The three college dormmates who founded Tiny Habits in 2022 spotlight their tight vocal harmonies against a backdrop of reverent, acoustic soundscapes. They’ve gone from viral sensation to in-demand live performers with stunning speed, attracting streaming audiences with a mix of originals (“Mudroom,” “Flicker”) and covers (Fleetwood Mac's “Landslide”).

The members of Tiny Habits -- singer/guitarists Maya Rae, Cinya Khan, and Judah Mayowa -- met as students at the Berklee College of Music in 2021. Discovering shared musical interests and a knack for interlocking harmonies, the trio experimented with snippets of acoustic covers recorded in their dorm stairwell. As each cover would outperform anything else the three posted online, they decided to make the partnership official, forming Tiny Habits in 2022.

Reactions were swift and rapturous. No less an authority on vocal harmonies in folk music than David Crosby was one of the first to praise the group’s work, and the trio found themselves an even bigger audience when they were recruited by fellow Berklee graduate Lizzy McAlpine to back her (and rearrange several of her songs) on an NPR Tiny Desk performance. Tiny Habits began to release their own work that same year. The singles “hemenway” and “one more” preceded a self-titled EP in 2023, which also included a cover of Fleetwood Mac's “Landslide.”

Tiny Habits spent much of 2023 touring, opening for Ingrid Michaelson, Gracie Abrams, and Noah Kahan between their own headlining summer shows. New music followed that same year: singles “Small Enough,” “Mudroom,” “Flicker,” and “I Don’t Have the Heart” -- all of which replicated the hypnotic vocals and ethereal instrumentation of their previous work -- were produced by Tony Berg, known for his collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers and Boygenius. ~ Mike Duquette

A singer/songwriter with an intimately emotive sound that combines elements of folk-pop, jazz, and R&B, Lizzy McAlpine found mainstream success in 2020 with her acclaimed debut album, Give Me a Minute. She charted on the Billboard 200 with her sophomore LP, 2022's Five Seconds Flat, and returned in 2024 with Older; both of which found her ruminating on the end of a relationship.

The Philadelphia native started penning songs in middle school, so by the time she began studying songwriting at Berklee College of Music in Boston, she was already ahead of the game. Citing a wide array of influences that includes Dodie, H.E.R., and John Mayer, she released her debut EP, Indigo, in 2018. Two years later, she issued her first full-length effort, Give Me a Minute, with producer and multi-instrumentalist Philip Etherington. An evocative and intimate folk-pop outing that garnered millions of streams, the album elicited praise from contemporaries like FINNEAS, Phoebe Bridgers, and Shawn Mendes. 2021's When the World Stopped Moving: The Live EP delivered an intimate eight-song set of stripped-down favorites culled from McAlpine's popular social media channel.

In 2022, she unveiled her sophomore long-player, Five Seconds Flat. A bold and immersive collection of songs written after a difficult breakup, the 14-track set reached number five on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, thanks in part to the streaming hits "Doomsday" and "All My Ghosts," and guest spots from FINNEAS and Jacob Collier. Following collaborations with Noah Kahan and Niall Horan, McAlpine released "Older" in February 2024, as the first single and title track of her third studio album. Produced by McAlpine and Mason Stoops, with contributions by Ryan Lerman, Jeremy Most, and Tony Berg, Older arrived in April 2024 and found the singer continuing to explore themes of heartbreak and emotional growth in the wake of a break-up. The album, which charted at 93 the Billboard 200, also included the single "I Guess." ~ Matt Collar & James Christopher Monger