My look at the final five of the ten of the biggest upcoming artists of 2012…
Jamie N Commons – The Preacher
With a thick, almost Johnny Cash-esque voice that defies his young age it’s a straight forward song that goes from a minimal, almost-acoustic tune, to a full aural assault ninety seconds in mixing in aspects of country and gospel into an intriguing mix before becoming relaxed once more.
A pleasant mix of genres that perhaps get a little over the top during the post-chorus guitar-based assault but, in the most part, it’s an enjoyable listen and picks up where Cash left off. [6/10]
Lianne La Havas ft. Willy Mason - No Room For Doubt
With Willy Mason joining London singer Lianne on this record, the odes bode well. It’s a sentimental ballad that balances their vocals perfectly. Set against nothing more than an acoustic guitar it’s not a particularly revolutionary track but it’s a gentle, calming four minutes that ticks all the easy listening boxes. It’s only fault is that it does slip into repetition and warbling vocals as it progresses but I’ll forgive it for that. [5/10]
Ren Harvieu - Through The Night
Very retro sounding song here from Ren that takes casual verses then kicks up the pace for the choruses which are powerful and ear-catching and when mixed with the string backing and her Dusty Springfield stylings makes a very appealing track.
Will definitely look forward to hearing more like this and the first of this selection of tracks I’d want to download. [7/10]
Spector - Grey Shirt & Tie
Hailing from London Spector seem to be a mix of Morrissey and the Kaiser Chiefs, combining the Smiths’ lead’s melancholy and the sound of Ricky Wilson, though without the catchy perkiness of the Leeds band.
Throwing in some simple synth and a catchy chorus this is very much enjoyable and, at times, quite grandiose, stealing some of the art stylings from the missing-in-absence Franz Ferdinand. The chorus sticks in your head so good omens there.
Could do well filling up the gap left by the Kaisers and Franz. [7/10]
Stooshe – Love Me
If you bred Nicki Minaj with an explosion in a sweet factory and create triplets you’d get Stooshe, or at least how they’d look. Sort of like the Spice Girls but with more attitude, stupid accents and daft wigs, I can certainly see this group being a 2012 novelty act. They do have the tune here to stand up to their heavily marketed image and have attracted Gym Class Heroes’ Travie onto the track so it’ll probably do quite well, adapted from an album track that replaces the word ‘love’ with something a little more explicit.
A catchy slice of feminine attitude that is slightly tarnished by the Cockney talking bits that bring back memories of Daphne and Celeste and the fact they are jumping on the Nicki Minaj / Lady GaGa bandwagon. [6/10]
My Top Five
So, having listened to all of the fifteen recommended artists, here is my BBC-contradicting top five:
Dot Rotten
Friends
Ren Harvieu
Spector
Michael Kiwanuka
So, completely different then.
Saturday 21 January 2012
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