Two sides of sombre, the singer shining in sadness

Fresh-faced alt-pop singer Sombre has landed third place on BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2026 list, which showcases the biggest new music artists for the next 12 months.

Going viral on TikTok, selling out a headline tour, appearing on Jimmy Fallon with a song about her ex (then finding her 15 missed calls), being enthusiastically endorsed by Taylor Swift, having hit films in the US and UK… Every time Sombre gets a big break, a bigger break soon follows.

Sombre’s nomination for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards in just a few weeks could be her next and biggest success yet.

Even at this stage of his career, this will not be the 20-year-old player’s first award.

In September, she won the Moonman Trophy at the MTV Video Music Awards and gave a performance aimed at introducing the public to her musical persona.

Or personality.

Dressed in leather trousers and a black shirt half open to the chest, he launched into an angst-filled Back to Friends with a rock band covered in dry ice, in a set modelled after a dirty club, looking every inch the moody indie messiah.

Then, after quickly donning a shimmering black jacket, she was carried up onto the stage by scantily clad dancers, who twirled around (and against) her as she sang the distinctive disco 12 to 12 under a giant glitterball while Ariana Grande jumped up and down in approval.

That mash-up highlighted two sides of Sombre.

On one hand, he is a troubled indie artist who composed a comprehensive album filled entirely with songs—truly full—centered on themes of heartbreak and emotional pain.

On the other hand, he’s a flawless pop star who gives those songs catchy melodies and great production and delivers them with swagger in a cool suit.

He fills the void left by Jeff Buckley and Harry Styles.

Also included in the mix are excerpts from Matty Healy from The 1975, Jim Morrison from The Doors; and Justin Hawkins from The Darkness.

However, in today’s genre-fluid music landscape, you don’t have to pick a side. It’s possible for Dr Buckley and Mr Styles to be both cool and pop.

Sombre has named Buckley and Radiohead among his musical heroes and said that he has “always been an “alternative music” guy.”

In fact, their MTV award was named “Best Choice” for the video for Back to Friends.

All kinds of alternative music have always captivated me, he says.

“But at the same time, I grew up listening to pop radio in the car or with my parents, and my favourite pop act would be – if it’s even considered pop, I think it’s considered pop – Daft Punk.

“With my natural tastes and upbringing, I found it to be a perfect fit between the poppy hooks and production in some of it and my instrumentation and indie approach to writing.

“A lot of my songs are guitar-heavy. I can never make a full-blown pop song. It always has to have that alternative touch.”

New Yorker Shane Buss became sombre when he posted his first song, Gorgeous Wistful Caroline, on TikTok in 2022, at the age of 16.

He recalls, “I woke up the next day and it was viral, and almost every record label was in my inbox.” “So, as crazy as it sounds, it was an overnight success.”

However, it took three years to go from overnight success to mainstream success, and the path was not always straightforward.

They signed to Warner Records but had lost their way creatively by the end of 2024.

“I was 18 years old. I had just dropped out of high school when I signed a label, and, you know, I didn’t really know what I was doing. And I still don’t know…

“It’s always a strange experience when music transitions from being a hobby to becoming a business or a job.” Do you know what comes to your mind? I didn’t have any backup plan. Therefore, success is not a requirement for this endeavour.

With his career on hold, Sombre was preparing for the possibility of moving back in with his parents, going back to school, and becoming Plain Shane again.

He says, “It was very slow going and it was having a creative effect on me because I started trying to make what I thought people wanted to hear, or what I thought would be beneficial, but that wasn’t working. That never works.”

“So I said, [Forget] this… I’m going to make exactly what I want to make right now. And that was Back to Friends.”.

Sombre says writing not to please others but from the heart opens up everything.

And it was from the heart. Back to Friends is about the pain of spending a night with someone she considers merely casual and meaningless.

More content flowed in, all on the same theme of unrequited or lost love.

He says, “These songs are just about relationships and some of my experiences as a young person with love, loss, and life in between.” “It came out effortlessly.”

This brief description understates the painful sadness simmering beneath the surface of his songs.

Now you are breaking my spirit, my beloved,” Sombre lamented in Crushing, the opening track of her debut album, I Barely Know Her.

Lines from other songs are “You were never mine but I was always yours” (I wish I knew how to leave you); “I try to go on dates but none of them are you” (Canal Street); and “I don’t want any other man’s children to have eyes like the girl I’ll never forget” (With clothes removed).

When Sombre made his TV debut last May singing Back to Friends on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he posted on TikTok that he’d come off the set to watch 15 missed calls from the girl who gave him all that inspiration by rejecting him.

What did his messages say? He said, “I just saw you on Fallen.” I changed my mind.’

“You know, that’s how it goes. The first thing I did was [show] that a career is getting serious. So I think he saw that.”

Like his songs, this is just his side of the conversation. Did he react or did he move on?

“I’ve moved on. There was no reaction from me and it’s in the past, you know?

“My experiences are now reflected in my art, and that is the only place they exist.”

Putting your most personal feelings out for public consumption has other unintended consequences.

In May, Sombre posted a clip of that line from Undressed with the caption: “Real question: How do I re-enter the dating scene after writing this song?”

How’s that going?

“Not good, man, not good,” he replies with a sarcastic smile. “I’m figuring it out.”

And after striking gold from a relationship experience, how did he find fresh inspiration to re-enter the field of songwriting?

He replied, “It is not a problem.” I am currently living a highly inspiring and dynamic life, so I am not experiencing significant difficulties.

“I’m travelling the world, doing what I love, seeing new places, meeting new people. So it’s not too hard.”

The action will continue in 2026 with more sell-out tours, TV slots, awards shows, and accolades — and hopefully, for her sake, some songs about falling in love, too.