With smooth, yearning vocals over their anthemic, part-acoustic pop, Spanish band Ayoho emerged from a nationwide talent competition in 2014. Their debut album, Deference & Wonder, followed in 2015. Formed in Cartagena, Spain, in mid-2014, Ayoho began as an acoustic duo who recorded their first song, "Blank Walls," in a basement. They submitted the song to the music competition Vodafone Yu Music Talent and ended up winning the 2014 edition as a trio over more than a thousand other acts. The band followed up with their debut album, Deference & Wonder, in 2015, a year that saw them opening for artists including Belako, Dorian, and Izal. After adding members throughout the year, the five-piece lineup of lead singer Fran, guitarists Lalo and Nacho, bassist Mike, and drummer Kuko recorded the Raúl de Lara-produced Ikigai EP, which arrived in 2017. Ayoho signed with the SonBuenos label in 2018, releasing their first self-produced song, "Dream About Her," that July. ~ Marcy Donelson