I’m so excited to be welcoming this hugely promising new talent to the Alfitude pages. Natasha Hunt Lee is a rapidly rising Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, who is currently crafting some of the finest, rawest and most captivating pieces of pop you could imagine.
Latest single “New Things” was co-produced by platinum certified artist Jeremy Zucker and artist-producer Max Hershenow (MS MR, Ryn Weaver, Claud).
“‘New Things’ is about the way somebody can embed themselves into your life so much so that a physical ending doesn’t really affect their existence within it. I think a lot of people recognise the suffocating nature of constantly being reminded of someone, remembering them through all the things that you shared. And the more important someone is to you, the more of those things you have to either avoid, redefine, or accept. Does that make sense? Maybe that’s overthinking it. Ok so, ‘New Things’ is about getting your heart broken and how f*king shitty it feels.”
“We really wanted to emulate the spectrum of emotion within all of that. The sadness, defeat, hope here and there, and also a sense of overwhelming anger.”
The original version of ‘Backyard Boy’ went viral very fast, and to this day it’s still an incredibly infectious slice of pop. Now it’s got some vocals from Jeremy Zucker and it’s just too damn good not to have on loop.
Check out the EP ‘BeVerly Hills BoYfRiEnd’ which is out now.
“I wanted to play off of iconic, memorable images from my upbringing in a very typical American suburb. The crew and I had a lot of fun capturing these moments using interesting angles, surrealist creative direction and just giving me the space to feel comfortable being myself on camera.”
I think I speak on behalf of a lot of people around the world when I say that this year was messy. I don’t know about you, but for me, nothing seemed to be straightforward over the last twelve months. So this year’s Random List should be interesting…
MOST LISTENED
Astrid S – Emotion. I have surprised with myself on this one. Since it’s release a couple of months ago it’s had 110 plays. I like the idea that the song balances between a retro and kitsch vibe and spins it into a more current twist with a soulful edge. Then there was the (bonkers) performance of the song on Norway’s equivalent of the Brits which gave it another fresh take…
MOST POLISHED
This has been the year for Troye Sivan. We started 2018 with this understated pop banger and the hits came through over the next twelve months. Managing to balance commercial pop with the slickest delivery, I really can’t wait to see what’s next for this kid.
BEST GIG
I haven’t had the time to go out as much in 2018 but if there’s one gig that’s stuck with me then it has to be Daniel Adams-Ray (also known as ‘Human’ and one half of ‘Snook’) earlier this month. He’s unheard of outside of Scandinavia since most of his hits are in Swedish, but he is one of the reasons why I fell in love with Scandi music as a kid. In a venue almost entirely full of Swedish millennials in east London, his setlist spanned his entire career and more than anything made me realise that: A – I am weird, and B – that Swedes still push pop’s boundaries pretty hard.
MOST UNDERRATED K-POP BANGER
(G)I-DLE – HANN. In what’s been K-Pop’s breakthrough year, this one song didn’t get as much love as I think it should have. I know it’s been viewed 38-million times on YouTube, but that’s barely anything for the genre these days. Anyway – it’s a strong pop track with a strong essence of melancholy that you wouldn’t expect from K-Pop.
BIGGEST SUCCESS STORY
TEN Music Group. For those of you who aren’t too familiar with Swedish pop, TEN is the powerhouse behind Zara Larsson (and damn, what a huge year she’s had). Take a look at their other roster of artists because I genuinely believe they are the new wave of Scandinavian talent… Keep an eye on Felix Sandman‘s unique vibe in particular…
MOST LOVEABLE
Jeremy Zucker.While still relatively unknown, I have nothing but total love for this talent. Give the track above a spin, it’s really quite special.
BIGGEST IMPACT
Female Soloists! This was the year we saw talents like Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande, Zara Larsson, Rosalia, Robyn make a huge impact. Not only through the release of consistent hits, but also through reminding us that we can all be strong even through turbulent times that make us vulnerable.
MOST DESERVING OF A BIG BREAK
Grace Carter. While Grace has been put on the longlist for BBC’s Sound of 2019, I’m not sure how likely she is to win it in January 2019. I, however, would love to see her become a huge success over the next twelve months.
And that, friends, is the Random List for the year. I can’t wait to keep sharing new music with you, and as always, thank you for following the site!
For previous editions of The Random List, head here.
