Artemas on How Forging his Own Path Resulted in a Global Breakout: ‘You Have to Be Fearless’

For rising British pop star Artemas, Lovercore – the title of his new mixtape – encompasses entirely how he presents his music to the world. “I’m kind of coining my genre – if I have one – and deciding what the wave is with this mixtape,” he tells Billboard U.K.

That genre, or vibe, is one of serious intensity, in-your-face production and the 26-year-old taking big swings with his emotional, impulsive lyricism. It’s informed by his love of The Weeknd (an all-time hero) but also a number of synth-pop and electronic icons; Lovercore shares the same bleak shades of Depeche Mode’s 1986 monster Black Celebration. “Superstar” and “Southbound” both reflect on intoxicating relationships, set to Nine Inch Nails-sized beats: “Choke me to the point where I can barely breathe, my love/ You’ve got me in the palm of your hands,” he sighs in the former.

“I don’t like writing about mundane or overly-sentimental stuff, all my lyrics are big and instinctive,” Artemas Diamandis says. “Like when you meet someone and you become f–king obsessed with them or when someone breaks up with you and you just f–king hate them. That’s what I like to sing about.”

Lovercore is the British musician’s first mixtape since his explosive breakout year. In late 2023, his self-released single “If You Think I’m Pretty” started rising up streaming charts, and March 2024’s follow-up “I Like the Way You Kiss Me” topped numerous charts in Europe, peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has since racked up 1.4 billion streams on Spotify alone. He became a rare British breakout story in an otherwise slow year, and proved that strong creative convictions over following standard music industry checkmarks could pay dividends.

Artemas began self-releasing music in 2020 with material that bordered on softer indie-pop. By 2023, he’d grown disillusioned with the advice he was receiving from industry advisors and decided to be true to his own sound. “If You Think I’m Pretty” was worlds away from the approachability of his earliest singles, favouring distorted vocals and drums, and a menacing air of intrigue. “I Like the Way You Kiss Me” was even more enthralling and stuffed with hooks atop an electro beat. “You have to be a little bit fearless and OK with being judged,” he says of upending his sound and reaping the rewards.

The success of the songs and his two 2024 mixtapes Pretty and yustyana sent him on tour around the world, including packed shows at festivals such as Coachella. He’s met famous fans such as Finneas O’Connell, brother and producer of Billie Eilish (“that first album f–ked me up so bad,” Artemas says), and is collaborating with his heroes like Illangelo, producer of The Weeknd’s 2011 Trilogy collection – Artemas’ creative north star. “Illangelo reached out ages ago, but I’ve been too scared to do the session, because he’s like my favourite producer ever,” he laughs.

As he releases Lovercore and gears up for a fruitful new era of music and performances, he tells Billboard U.K. how staying true to his vision helped him build an army of fans – and create his strongest music yet.

There’s a Depeche Mode feel to this mixtape. Is that a fair comparison?

Yeah I think so. I grew up on ‘90s alt music like Nirvana and Radiohead. Then I put out “I Like the Way You Kiss Me” and I knew I was doing a fake shitty Robert Smith [The Cure] impression, but then I got all of these comments like, “This is like the new romantics in the ’80s.” My mum used to play a bit of Tears for Fears, but I never really properly dived into it, and then I got obsessed with Depeche Mode and all of this ’80s synth pop.

The main purpose of this record is to just get that s–t out of my system. Every time I’d sit down and write a song I’d just start playing synths. I’m obsessed with this stuff, but I just know there’s a whole other side to my artistry that I’ve been neglecting, so I’m gonna put this out and then we can move on a bit.

How’s 2025 been for you geberally?

It’s been good. I would say that I definitely felt myself getting quite tired being on the road. I didn’t realize that as soon as you have an audience, they just put you in a van and send you around the world, so I feel like I’ve had barely any time to make music but I’ve had a great 2025. 

Coachella was a highlight – that was pretty wild. I had such a great time and the show was packed. I also got snubbed for Glastonbury — and I’m not being salty because I didn’t get chosen, if I had to pick I’d have genuinely chosen Coachella anyway! It feels a lot more on brand for me.

What have you learned about yourself as a performer through these shows?

I was so worried when I was told that I had to start performing. I’d traditionally been in a band set-up and it was all soft indie-pop and it was all very live. The stuff I’m singing now is actually really difficult to perform live, and I was worried it would sound bad. But I’ve got better at controlling the audience and being more confident with that.

What felt different about making Lovercore compared to your previous work?

I handed this project in two months ago, which is a first for me. With “I Like the Way You Kiss Me,” I made it, posted it four days later, and a week later it was the most viral track on TikTok – and the most-listened to song in the world. From there, I’ve just put music out and been quite impulsive and instinctive when it comes to releasing, but this was the first time that I decided I was going to make songs and hand them in and let them breathe.

Did you enjoy that more traditional A&R process and release strategy?

The problem I was having before was that I was kind of spoiling the songs for myself. It’s nice to have the song and hold onto them for a bit longer. Your relationship to a song is naturally going to be different once other people hear it. I’ve enjoyed having these songs for longer – they mean a lot to me. Sometimes you put a song out that you’ve made a week ago, and it almost feels like a violation of your own privacy. Inevitably when you put them out, you do go off them a bit.

I can imagine that period of writing a song and it hitting straight away being a bit of a whirlwind…

It was extremely surreal. It kind of felt like a joke. [“I Like the Way You Kiss Me”] just wouldn’t stop rising. I think my brain got a bit fried by how quickly everything moved last year, and how suddenly I was an artist with a massive streaming audience. That came out of being obsessed with making songs and not really thinking about an audience. Lovercore is the first time I’ve made music with an audience waiting for it, and I’ve kind of been trying to go back to my old mindset and not caring and making a project for me.

That must be nice to have people respond, though, especially when you’ve been through the grind…

That side of it is so nice. I had three or four years of putting music out and no one listening to it – which is something that every artist has to go through – but it’s not a nice place. So I’m very grateful to have what I have going on. But you’re also not making stuff with that innocence, and where there’s no judgement and if it fails, f–k it, who cares?

Up to that moment it’s like everyone is just rooting for you. I never read a single negative comment in that whole time, and it was just a lot of positivity. But as soon as you have a song that people can’t escape off their feed, that’s when you start getting pushback, and that was a wild thing to deal with. It was surreal and scary as f–k, but also the best thing in the world. Like, everyone knows that song now, and I can be sure that at a festival set that I have a moment where the crowd is going crazy.

Did it change the way the industry was looking at you? You’d been releasing material for years but hadn’t made much progress.

I’d been listening to every piece of advice from people in the industry for years. I would sign these distribution deals and make these EPs and music videos. I was doing all this bollocks and it wasn’t working. 

And then I had this epiphany/breakdown moment where I was like, ‘F–k it, no one in this industry knows what they’re talking about, this traditional s-–t doesn’t work’. So I just put out a song every single month and posted every single day on TikTok, and just started to make the s–t that I love. 

I completely changed what I was releasing, too. The music that is now Artemas, these dark R&B songs, I was just making on the side for myself. I’d play them to friends and they’d say this s–t was way harder than what I was releasing. I started putting this stuff out and ignored everything the industry was saying that I had to do… and it pretty instantly started working.

How does Lovercore fit into your long-term plans?

In the short-term it’s about putting this mixtape out, another one at the top of next year, another one in May and then put them together and inspired by The Weeknd’s Trilogy as my first official album-type release. Beyond that, it’s hard to say. It’s like a ouija board, I just let the world come back to me with messages; I don’t like being too prescriptive with long-term goals and plans.

And how are you dealing with the creative process alongside the increased attention?

Staying focused on all the right things can be difficult when you’re constantly traveling the world. There’s naturally a lot of other stuff that has come my way that I wasn’t having to think about before. Previously I wasn’t having to tour and manage an audience, I was just making music and thinking about what’s the next chapter and how to keep pushing myself there. Now, it’s about making sure the music-making process doesn’t get affected by all the other stuff. 

I just want to make the most undeniable music that I can – I don’t think I have many more aspirations. I don’t feel like I’m part of a scene; I exist on my own. I don’t think my songs are obvious smashes, they just became them. I would never want to be writing songs with the intention of making a massive song, I want it to be a crossover from my own world.