AMAZING ARTEMAS
Moody, Sexy + Addictive
How does Artemas do it? When his breakout “if u think i’m pretty” single dropped in 2023, the enigmatic U.K. artist’s sound hit thanks to a marvelous mass of contradictions. Simultaneously, it’s muted yet crystal clear, sparse yet lush, machine-cold yet cuddle-warm. It doesn’t make any sense, yet when listening, it makes all the sense in the world.
The darkwave artist has been touring North America in September and October, and the remainder of 2026 will see him embark on a thorough exploration of Europe, concluding in London on December 14. Big venues too, highlighting the fact that the recent getting up to no good mixtape has seen Artemas step up another level. There’s really no stopping him now.
He’s a coy little fella too, with no small amount of cheek in his arsenal; with 2024’s “i like the way you kiss me,” Artemas listed all the ways that he likes to be kissed: “You bite my lip just for the taste; You’re on your knees, I’m on the case; You take the heat and with such grace; You say we’re done, but here you stay.”
Earlier, on the “if u think i’m pretty” single, Artemas effectively journals an unhealthy but apparently satisfying fuckboi/bootycall relationship: “Won’t you give that shit a rest? Said you needed love, but you’re only here for sex, And I’m dyin’ to be next, Killed me once before, I just come back more obsessed with you.”
Perhaps it was on 2025’s “southbound” that Artemas left the least to the imagination: “I want to kiss you on the mouth; Take my tongue and lead it southbound; Baby, put some faith in me; Put your waist in my face; Come on, violate me.”
That leads us right up to now, and the getting up to no good mixtape. True to form, it’s full of songs that balance precariously on the line between romantic and erotic. To be fair, those lines can blur in real life, and that smudge is where Artemas has set up camp.
On “Control Yourself,” we’re treated to the breathless lines, “You know what you’re doing with that tight dress on; Pressed against your body with no panties on; Started breathing on me and it felt so wrong.”
“Moody” and “addictive” are words that show up when digging into Artemas, and that makes sense, but it only tells a fraction of the story. Artemas taps into corners of the human psyche that are oft considered forbidden, and he does so with chill swag.
