New year. New noise. Hype is back on the hunt, digging through the chaos, the chatter and the late-night tip-offs to find the acts who aren’t just next up, but about to detonate.

Dork’s Hype List is our annual spotlight on the artists who’ve started to really stand out - not because they’re destined for instant superstardom, but because there’s something in what they’re doing that feels fresh, deliberate and worth keeping close tabs on.

It isn’t about calling winners or demanding overnight breakthroughs. Consider it a guide to the acts shaping the edges of what’s next: the ones we’re excited about, curious about, and confident enough to back as they take their next steps.

Dexter in the Newsagent writes like someone learning the shape of their own life in real time, and she talks the same way: candid, light-footed, thoughtful without turning heavy. When she reflects on releasing her newest body of work, it comes out with a softness that makes perfect sense for an artist whose music often feels like an internal monologue captured mid-breath.

“Finally releasing my project has been a huge step for me this year,” she says. “I spent so much time making it that for it to finally be out low-key feels like a dream or something.” It had been sitting, unnamed, waiting for its moment. “It had been an untitled link for way too long.”

Alongside the project, a new pivot emerged in the form of ‘i told ya’. Dexter remembers the moment clearly. “I made that song back in February when I was still making demos for the tape,” she says. The influence was emotional as much as sonic: “It was so cold and dark at the time. I just wanted to make something that felt fun and kind of the opposite of how it looked and felt outside.”

Her growth isn’t limited to the studio, either. “I’ve changed a lot as an artist in terms of being much more involved in production… But I’ve also changed a lot as a person whilst transitioning into adulthood.”

Then comes the line that reshapes everything around it. “Losing my dad has played the biggest part in how much I’ve changed,” she says. “Something just suddenly clicked in my head that made me care a lot less about how I’m perceived, and made me find things a lot less deep.” She talks about grief with a clear-headed sensitivity: “Experiencing such a horrible thing made me realise there’s so much more to life than worrying about things that won’t even matter the next day.”

Right now she isn’t rushing new work. “I’m not working on brand new stuff just yet,” she says, but she’s been letting 2010s synth-pop and electro-pop filter into her listening. It makes sense - shiny, melodic, melancholic - exactly the palette her songs often dance along the edge of.

Dexter also feels a growing sense of community around her. “I definitely think I’m part of a wider movement of up-and-coming artists within London for sure,” she says. “A lot of these people are my close friends, and it feels amazing to watch everyone slowly come up together.” She lists Jim Legxacy, Moses Ideka, Natanya and others not as name-drops but as people she’s genuinely excited about.

Her definition of success is one of the most grounded you’ll hear from any rising artist. “Being happy within myself,” she says, and “new people discovering my music every single day.”

She ends with a line that feels like a quiet opening door: “There’ll be more music soon. This is only just the very beginning of everything.” ■

Taken from the December 2025 / January 2026 issue of Dork, out now.