Bülow

German-Canadian alt-pop singer/songwriter Megan Bülow, who records as Bülow, first drew notice through a moody, electronica-tinged style that later incorporated stronger rock textures. Her breakthrough arrived with the 2017 single “Not a Love Song,” which quickly sparked interest in her opening EPs, Damaged, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and earned her the 2019 Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year. Subsequent releases broadened her palette further, folding in additional folk and rock shades on the 2019 Crystalline EP and the 2022 Booty Call EP.

Born in Berlin in 1999, she experienced a peripatetic childhood shaped by her father’s career, living successively in the Netherlands, England, the United States, and ultimately Canada. An early interest in music led her to busk on London streets by age 11. While at a Canadian summer camp at 16, an A&R representative caught her performing and urged her to treat music as a professional pursuit, prompting her to begin recording. Online attention coalesced around “Not a Love Song,” which started climbing streaming platforms in late 2017. That sparkling alternative-pop cut formed one-third of Damaged, Vol. 1, whose sound echoed the work of Julia Michaels, MØ, and Ella Vos. Several months afterward came Damaged, Vol. 2, highlighted by the single “Sand and Bored” featuring rapper Duckwrth. In 2019, multiple Juno Award nominations, capped by the Breakthrough Artist win, widened her profile.

Capitalizing on that momentum, she issued the languid “Sweet Little Lies” as the opening track of her third EP, Crystalline. Before the year closed she delivered another set, The Contender, which contained the single “Boys Will Be Boys.” Further standalone releases followed, among them 2020’s “I Don’t Wanna Be” with BLVTH and 2021’s “First Place.” Returning in 2022 with her fifth EP, Booty Call, Bülow adopted a more organic, rock-leaning direction. The project featured the singles “Don’t Break His Heart” and “Playin’ Me Back,” and she also supported Conan Gray on his North American tour.