While Switzerland is known for its stunning landscapes and delicious chocolate, the Swiss music scene is relatively small and internationally unknown. However, there have been some recent successes that have helped to break down this barrier, such as Nemo winning the Eurovision Song Contest or Vendredi sur Mer’s ‘Écoute Chérie’ going viral on social media a few years ago. This has helped to bring more attention to Swiss music and artists on a global scale. International listeners may only be able to understand Swiss music in English, French or Italian, but something that only people from the German part of Switzerland understand is the so-called Mundart music (music in Swiss German). On this list, we would like to present to you five Swiss artists that show the diversity of our country and definitely deserve more attention.

With her outstanding voice and profound songwriting, rising star Joya Marleen continues to blow the Swiss population away with each of her new releases. Growing up in a very music-enthusiastic family, the now 21-year-old learned to play the guitar early in her life and soon began writing her own songs.

In 2020 she finally released her first official single ‘Nightmare’ which has been played over and over on Swiss radio stations ever since. At the Swiss Music Awards 2022, she managed to claim all three awards for which she was nominated: Best Female Act, SRF 3 Best Talent and Best Hit. Following the immense success of ‘Nightmare’, Marleen published her debut album Fish In Your Glass. Earlier this year, she returned with a brand-new pop track, ‘Fire’, which once again became a hit on Swiss radio. Despite her young age, the pop and folk musician is already one of Switzerland’s most successful artists which is promising for the rest of her career.

If you have been reading the news or spending time on social media lately, you have probably come across the name Nemo! The 24-year-old artist has just won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland with their song ‘The Code’. Not only did they become the first non-binary person to win the contest, they also broke the audience record in Switzerland with 800.000 viewers (for the record, Switzerland has a population of 8.7 million).

While Nemo might have had their international breakout just recently, their name is certainly nothing new to the households in German-speaking Switzerland. On Nemo’s profile on music platforms such as Spotify, only English songs can be found – the earliest released in 2020. However, there is an old profile under the same name with song titles that might seem strange to people outside of Switzerland. Nemo has been releasing their own music – mostly rap – in Swiss German since 2015. The lyrics to songs like ‘Ke Bock’ (Eng; Can’t be arsed) and ‘Du’ (Eng; You) are common knowledge to most young people in Switzerland.

Another upcoming Swiss artist is Milune. Since the release of her first single ‘what am i living for?’ in 2022, she has played plenty of shows in Europe and the United States and even signed with Sony Music in March 2024. Her debut EP ‘rabbit holes’ was released a couple of weeks ago. 

Inspired by artists like Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey, the indie-pop artist is remarkable for her honest and open lyrics as well as the ability to let the listeners feel emotions through her music. In her songs, Milune likes to cover important topics such as mental health, social pressures and sexuality. She has been growing a quite big following on social media, where people from all over the world connect with her. 

Through her lyrics and music videos, the musician’s creativity is a clear stand out. Despite her tender years, the 20-year-old seems to be full of ideas and talent. Milune has come a long way in the short time since she started out and is definitely an artist to keep an eye out for. Don’t blink or you might miss her rise to fame!

Growing up in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Caroline Alves moved to Biel in Switzerland at the age of 11. Early on, she discovered her passion for music and taught herself to play the guitar. Soon after, she won her first fans when she got her first taste of live music as a street musician.

Now 26, she is signed to Sony Music and has developed her own signature sound – something between pop, trip-hop, soul and jazz. After releasing several singles since 2017, Alves dropped her debut album Moonlight in 2020. The album is full of bittersweet moments. Topics such as heartbreak, self-doubt and fear of loss, make it clear that the musician does not shy away from being honest in her songs.

At the Swiss Music Awards in 2021, she became the first French-speaking Swiss to win the “SRF 3 Best Talent” award. Another highlight of Alves’ career so far was when she had the chance to play as a support act for Coldplay at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich in 2023.

Cyrielle Formaz, best known as Meimuna, is a Swiss artist from Wallis whose work is a delicate pairing of folk sounds and French poetry. Since 2016, she has created gentle melodies that could lull you to a peaceful sleep. Like the flow of a mountain river, the simple mix of guitar and Meimuna’s delicate voice give each song an incredibly fluid and almost fragile sensation like in ‘sous la nef’ or ‘skagen’. 

Even through grasping melancholy and deep intimacy, the sound of the artist remains ethereal and soft, sometimes haunting, like a lukewarm embrace. Her lyrics touch on memory, thoughts, water, and a strong feeling of familiarity, unveiling herself to a public that’ll relate easily to her tales. Recently, she has been working on her first full length album which is set to release on October 18th and until then, you can discover a taste of it through the singles she released: ‘arracher les ombres’ and ‘tomber de haut’.