Back To Ground

We say

Starting our final week of Ones To Watch 2026 before Christmas is one of the year’s most compelling new talents, Iona Luke. We first discovered the 22-year-old in September with her striking murder ballad 'Cowboy Boots', and since then, she’s been a constant presence on our playlists. Raised in Shepherd’s Bush on Bob Dylan, The Cure, and Portishead before discovering PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, and Stevie Nicks, Iona blends these influences into vivid, cinematic songwriting that feels both timeless and fiercely individual. This summer, she graduated from Cambridge University, balancing her English Literature degree — including a dissertation on Patti Smith — with a growing live profile that culminated in winning Cambridge's 2025 Battle of the Bands, judged by Radio 1’s Matt Fincham. Her breakout moment, however, has come with 'Back To Ground'. Co-written with Paul Whalley, it has become her biggest release yet, surpassing 500k streams and pushing her catalogue past 1m global plays. The track has accelerated her rise, lifting her to over 90k monthly Spotify listeners and drawing in thousands of new followers across Spotify and Instagram, with fast-growing audiences in the UK, US, Germany, Poland and Brazil. Lana Del Rey is already an admirer, having first noticed Iona’s talent after hearing her solo verse in the Capital Children’s Choir’s rendition of 'Bel-Air'. Now signed to B-Unique Publishing, she closes out 2025 with two support slots for Del Amitri at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall (22 December) and Glasgow’s Barrowland (23 December), ahead of a new single in early January and a full UK live rollout planned for spring 2026. It may be early days, but Iona Luke’s poetic, immersive and dramatic songwriting, paired with atmospheric production and a magnetic vocal presence, marks her as a star firmly in the making.

Contact

Label: Vorpal Records
Distributor: AWAL
Publishing: B-Unique Music
Marketing: Leah Stockford, LS Music Marketing 
Digital: Marcel Hunziker, Playlive
Press & Online: Andy Prevezer, APPR
Live: Harry Young, Pure Presents 
Management: Andy Prevezer (07774 400583) & James Ward, Sounds Management
Photo Credit: Caitlin Mason