It’s a bit risky to predict a bands future based on one song. But this is #15, which is my Wild Card. And I choose HAERTS. I have no idea what they are going to do next year, I have no idea if this song is a one off, if it’s a bit of a fluke I don’t know.
But these are something I do know
1. This song is amazing
2. If they do more stuff like this, they could be looking at massive things next year
3. 2013 needs something like this.
Filed under Ones to Watch 2013
Nottingham based singer Indiana has all the ingredients ready for success. She looks a bit like Ellie Goulding, sounds like a mixture between The XX and Delilah and she does an amazing version of Frank Ocean’s ‘Swim Good’. Her chillwave pop sound has been heard on Radio 1 and at festivals such as Gathering in Oxford.
She also now appears to be signed to Sony and is making some fancy new videos for her gorgeous songs. Whether it’s too early for Indiana it’s yet to say and she’s probably not yet ready to make an album. But she’s definitely someone to keep an eye on this year, I know I will be.
Filed under Ones to Watch 2013
Tashaki Miyaki were supposed to release their debut album sometime over the summer. It never happened and why I don’t know. Usually these things are delayed by switching labels, delaying marketing etc. but with Tashaki Miyaki there is no clue.So I’m holding out that 2013 is the year the record is released, and I’m hoping it’s great!
Their sound resembled Big Deal, Warpaint but mostly grungy 90′s girl bands, drenched in love stories and floating melancholic vocals. It’s all so simple, yet so effective and I think that could bring them good things.
Filed under Ones to Watch 2013
21 year old Australian producer FLUME has already had a heap of success down under, his debut record reached No. 2 in the Aussie charts, only stopped from the No. 1 spot by One Direction.
February 18th is when the record will drop in the UK, through Transgressive Records. The whole record is a mixture between massive dance tunes and alternative electronica. Songs like ‘Sleepless’ and ‘Holdin’ On’ I hope will hit the mainstream, but the whole record is probably too alternative to chart in the UK.
FLUME could be a massive summer hit, the festivals are gonna love this. You can currently a teaser whole record over on his Soundcloud page. Get ahead of the crowds.
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I only discovered STARRED a few weeks ago but have been insanely in love with their EP ‘Prison to Prison’ ever since. I’m very excited about this band. I think they’ve got heaps of potential to make a truly great record. These songs are never going to please everyone, they are never going to enter the charts, but they might just do something exciting, different and beautiful.
‘Prison to Prison’ is a beautifully raw first effort from the band, which sees Liza Thorn slide from gentle melancholy country-folk tunes to Courtney Love- inspired screeching vocals, forever keeping the passion in her voice. The songs are so delicate and structurally sound like they pour out of the band, with no thought for choruses or hooks. But this is what makes them great, and this is what keeps you constantly engaged and enthralled by the EP.
I am desperate to hear more from this band, and I hope next year we do.
Filed under Ones to Watch 2013
Sounding like a mixture between some of the best guitar albums of the last two years (Ariel Pink, Tame Impala, War on Drugs, Connan Mockasin), Brighton based Gross Magic are onto something good.
Pitchfork will love this, as will NME, as will a whole host of 20 something kids who live in Shoreditch. Still seemingly unsigned, I would predict an album for later in the year rather than early like most of these Ones to Watches. I hope this band get what they deserve and the British open their eyes to a sounds which at the moment is being embraced most by the Americans.
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First appearing on the blog back in February, my romance with Wild Belle has already lastest almost a year. With the release of their debut single, ‘Keep You’, a reggae-pop masterpiece, the band quickly gained attention from the online press and have continued to tour and release the odd song, keeping their development as a band slow and steady, but this method has worked very well for them. And I stay excited to see what will happen next for Wild Belle.
Signed to Columbia, the brother-sister duo are due to release their debut album next year sometime, guaranteed to be a unique slice of sunshine reggae. I hope this time next year they are still keeping my interest.
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In my Ones to Watch list last year, there are at least 5 acts on the list I would have described as folk. This year, there is 1, this one, Marika Hackman. So if you were after a list of acoustic guitars and fiddles, you better get your fix now.
Since the ‘folk boom’ year of 2008, things have got a little less interesting in the genre, and now I think almost everyone is dire bored of banjo’s and people singing about grass and God. There have been several sub-genres, ‘folktornica’, ‘night folk, ‘doom folk’, anything to make it interesting again. When all we really need is someone to come along, who isn’t going out with someone in Mumford & Sons, who writes beautiful songs, and is still folk, but also, a breath of fresh air. And for me, that person is Marika Hackman.
Her debut single You Come Down/Mountain Spines was produced by Johnny Flynn and released on Paradyse Records, an offshot of Transgressive. It’s a beautiful set of songs, layered with interesting instrumentation and rich melodies. She has already announced the follow up to that single in the form of an EP which will be released on February 25th entitled ’That Iron Taste’. The track ‘Cannibal’ which is below is taken from that EP, and what a lovely offering it is. The song shows yet another development in Marika’s sound, taking it to a darker and even more interesting place than the debut single.
Her sound resonates with many artists from the 1960′s but it is still distinctively her own, and through working with Alt-J’s producer Charlie Andrew, I think the upcoming EP could be something pretty special.
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Like yesterday’s Ones to Watch Solange, Sky Ferreira has had a bit of a musical makeover recently. And like Solange, that is thanks to one man, Dev Hynes who wrote both Solange’s ‘Losing You’ and Sky Ferreira’s ‘Everything is Embarrassing’ two of the best songs of the year.
Both artists, I think, could have very strong years next year. Solange is rocking the 80′s RnB vibe and Sky is doing something all together different. I think she is yet to find her sound, her debut EP ‘Ghost’ is a bit all over the place genre wise (it’s still actually very good). From dishevelled pop track ‘Everything’s Embarrassing’ to the folk-country ‘Sad Dream’ (my faveeeee) and ‘Ghost’ to the electronic based ‘Lost In My Bedroom’.
What is undeniable is that she has the potential to do something very interesting with pop music.
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It’s not been long since Solange appeared on here as a New Treat and it won’t be long until she’s the name on everyones lips. Having released her EP ‘True’ at the end of November, everyone has been on a Solange-frenzy. The EP is a real gem of this year. Highlighting how far her songwriting has come and how strong her partnership with Dev Hynes is. It makes me very excited to think what she might do next year.
Will she be able to top ‘Losing You’? I don’t know, but if 2012 has been the year of Grimes, I think 2013 might be the year of Solange.
Also check out her I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E. debut performance of Losing You on Jimmy Fallon.
Filed under Ones to Watch 2013
