Officially Published on June 4th, 2026

For the start of June, I thought it would be fun to post an open call for artists to introduce themselves. The idea would be to welcome some new artists into the FMOF family. Well, after well over a hundred responses, I definitely have my hands full! In an effort to get to as many of these artists as possible, I am going to do a series of Spotlight Articles that will serve as introductions to groups of these artists at a time.

Tha M3

I’m really excited about Tha M3 because he is actually the first Jamaican artist I’ve featured on the FMOF platform. Generally, I have a rule where I try to review recently released music, but all bets are off for these Spotlight artists this month! Tha M3 is a hip hop and R&B artists (as mentioned) from Jamaica. He debuted in 2017 with the release of his single Twilight and has since released 2 albums and a number of singles, with the most recent being Hominy Corn in October of 2025.

Tha M3 submitted his album Soon Check Yuh, which is 9 songs and released on June 7th of 2024, almost two years ago to the date. It was released by The BROS Club. The standout track for this album to me is Worth the Wait. Tha M3 showcases killer flow in the verses and I really like the reverb-saturated vocals in the chorus. The beat is simple but present and the piano sample sounds good with the reverb and that little bit of delay plugged into the mix. The album is a quality production.

A-Tota-So

Changing gears, UK- based indie band A-Tota-So have a variety of different inlfuences to their sound. At the front, they are punk, progressive, and alternative. They have been together for years, and have played some impressive shows in the process, including festivals like ArcTanGent. They are currently working on the release of their third LP, I Told You So, which is slated to release this year. They are also preparing for a few shows in the summer, with their most recent coming up July 17 in Sowerby Bridge. Make sure to check out their tour schedule on Spotify!

On May 1st, the release the new A/B side single, Form of Mass, which also features the song, Death Rattle. This single was 100% independently released by the band. I love the complexity of this song. I love the intro riff played by the guitar, and the very complex beat as the drummer brings the full band. The lead vocals come right in with the band, and are sort of half sung and half shouted throughout. The song has a couple of really cool breaks; right after the first verse, where it turns more into a funk-infused instrumental groove, then at the end where the cadence is half-timed into a slow jam to close the song out.

Haunted Shoes

Keeping it in the UK, Haunted Shoes are more of a true to form alternative rock band. Their wheelhouse tends to be anthemic, power ballad, type songs that have explosive, resonating choruses. They debuted last year, with the single, This. Since that time, they’ve released an EP, Penumbra, which featured 4 released singles, and already have 2 single releases in 2026.

Their latest, Nonstop, released on April 24th, 2026. It runs at around 2 minutes and 20 seconds. It features full and layered guitars, with drums and bass locked into the pocket behind the guitars. The lead vocalist has a wavering and emotional baritone to bass vocal tone. He sounds his bass when he is attacking the higher end of his range, which he reserves for the climatic moments of the chorus. Nonstop is straight forward. It has an uplifting melody, a rock solid beat and tempo. It’s definitely something fans of rock can tap their feet to.

If the lead vocalist gave any kind of shit about what I had to say by way of advise, I would tell him that he has a strong vocal presence that could be accented if he layered and panned the lead vocals, at least around the chorus. Also, there are some moments where the performance is a little pitchy but is nothing that using an autotune plug in couldn’t fix (there is no shame in autotune, it’s one of my favorite plug ins. Most artists use it). I like the tone of the vocals. I think there are a couple of production tricks that can be used to really enhance them. The instrumentals are solid but ultimately serve as an accompaniment to this vocal performance. A couple small changes can make this vocalist the absolute intended standout portion of this band.

But that’s just my opinion. Take it or leave it.

Final Thoughts

As we move forward in June, I hope to put one or two Spotlight articles out every week. Some days, there may be 2-3 artists featured in the article, and some days there may be 5. It depends on how much time I have to work into the article when it comes. For those who are familiar with FMOF, I like to put an extra bit of effort into the writing process for our articles. That means I like to dig into the artist, listen to their catalog, and put out a full article. There is absolutely no A.I. used in the writing process. I am the journalist and the editor and sometimes, there are grammatical imperfections in these articles. Really, they’re glorified journal entries inspired by the music I am writing about that day. They are not emotionally unbiased, in fact, I pour my emotion into writing these articles. If you are an artist that is interested in being fully featured, make sure to follow me. Go to fmofmusicentertainment.com and click on the “How to Submit Music or a Video” Page on the toolbar. It walks through the official submission method step by step. Artists are never required to pay for reviews. In two years, I’ve never accepted a payment from one single artist and I won’t. I just ask you pay it forward. Share the article, refer other artists, and follow the FMOF socials so we can continue to get the word out. Look, there are a lot of different associations who are fixated on preying on independent artists with empty promises about helping them get famous. These musicians don’t need another entity doing that. I just ask you do one thing: Go Press Play.

HOW TO SUBMIT MUSIC OR A VIDEO