“Someone once mentioned that Liz Green reminded them of the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you put on an old jacket and find a note in the pocket.” Check out here.
Incredible British soul talent from bad-boy-gone-good Josh Osho that rivals John Legend. This track, Redemption Days, isn’t out til September but this guy’s already generating so much buzz. Inspiring and exciting! Check out here.
Icona Pop has been causing a bit of a fuss on the web for a while yet I never featured them on here. Edgy Swedish pop. “The two DJ’s decided one neon lit night to write songs about dark feelings and happy moments. The heartbroken soul and the frustrated mind combined their efforts and Icona Pop was born. These girls speak their minds and want everybody to sing along.” Check out here.
File this under Active Child, Washed Out and Million Young– well crafted, downtempo music. I love his version of ‘No Diggity’. Hot. Check out here.
This is so new it’s not even ready… Swedish trio that makes some very good, very catchy powerpop. Check out here.
I love this. This is The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s new single. “A daydream like childhood memory soundtracked by a blissful sound wall of jaded guitars and jewel-like synths.” Check out here.
Epic Irish indie with a bit of a raw edge. ‘Raised on a diet of Soul In Heaven era Verve self-belief, and Jesus and Mary Chain’s wanton fuzz, the band took an early hazy blueprint of how they wanted to sound and immediately removed anything that might interfere with their creating of it. They killed off long-standing relationships, resigned from the day-jobs and cut local ties, moved to London and have here made a record that took those noisy, hissing 8-track bedroom demos and transformed the very same songs into swirling, guitar-heavy anthems.’ Check out here.
I don’t know much about these guys but they have a very fresh indie/ pop/ electro type of sound. Check out here.
This is a very catchy song from the man who was once known as ‘Lightspeed Champion‘. Although I kind of wonder what these kids will be thinking in ten years time when they see how 90’s they looked in 2011… Anyway, check out here.
Listening to Heaven blew me out of my desk. Such a big voice and massive production. The single’s out in August, so you’ve got a month to get used to Emeli Sandé being on your radio on loop. Just one word for this girl- WOW. Check out here.
I can’t get this song out of my head- it’s so catchy. It has an anthemic thing going for it while sounding very lo-fi at the same time. Check out here.
Interesting, eclectic sounds from this Nottingham band. It’s sort of light indie music that takes you to another level. And just to add to the good weirdness of it, the band set about creating a ‘headphones only’ version of the song…
“When you listen back on headphones, then it’s you who hears the music in the same way, like you were actually there in the environment. The sound of the instruments, voices and the ambience of the location are all captured in 3D surround sound so you’re sonically transported to that time and place each time you listen to the track.” Check out here.
You’ll recognise The Reason 4 from the 2010 series of The X Factor. They didn’t win, but it put them on the map and has helped realise a 10-year ambition for the Southampton four –piece. Now signed to Sony, this is their debut single, out August 7th. The average age for this band is 29, which is a bit rare for new boybands, but I like that. Grown up pop. Check out here.
Electro pop with a bit of brass playing in the background, it’s all very LA. It took a couple of listens to get in to this, but it’s really lovely once you give it a chance. I specially like the bit where it all goes Hercules and Love Affair at 1:30 mark. Check out here.
I first saw these two Swedish club DJ’s when they were the warm up act for Robyn at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. They’ve now got their own single, and it sounds a bit like something Robyn would sing herself, which is a good thing. Check out here.
