Editors' Picks

Sam Fender is a man of many talents. After being spotted performing in a pub in his home town in the northeast when he was just a teenager, he went on to appear in ITV drama series Vera, and in the CBBC show Wolfblood. Music was his passion though and after signing a record contract he dropped his debut EP Dead Boys in 2018 and followed it up last year with his first full-length album Hypersonic Missiles, which received some excellent reviews. Along the way, he was named as one of BBC’s Sounds of 2018, and picked up the Critics’ Choice Award at the 2019 Brit Awards.

As prolific as they are entertaining, Cats In Space have won over plenty of earthlings with their 70s-inspired, riff-heavy classic rock sound since forming back in 2015. Now comprised of Greg Hart (guitars / vocals/ keyboards), Dean Howard (guitars / vocals), Steevi Bacon (drums / vocals), Jeff Brown (bass / vocals), Andy Stewart (piano / synths) and Damien Edwards (lead vocals) after some pretty significant lineup changes recently, the six-piece from Horsham still have a particularly strong reputation for putting on a hell of a live show, and have played alongside rock royalty such as Deep Purple, Status Quo and Bonnie Tyler.

You might not yet have heard of Australian singer-songwriter Kian Maxwell Bytyci Brownfield – known professionally just as Kian – unless your Down Under, where the teenager has already built a loyal following after dropping a string of alt-pop sensations over the last couple of years. Chief among them was Waiting, a delightfully low key and spacey indie-pop song that has amassed well over sixty million streams in Spotify, bagged an ARIA Awards nomination for Song of the Year and secured twentieth place in Triple J Hottest 100 for 2018.

Katie Melua’s latest single ‘Joy’ is a tender ode to the people that make each and every day worth living. The British singer-songwriter has spent over seventeen years building a decorated, beloved career, and her latest feature contains as much heart and complexity as her first pieces.

For anyone else that grew up in the noughties, a warning: this next sentence will make you feel really old. American rockers We Are Scientists have been around now for TWENTY years. OK, they’ve been through plenty of lineup changes and even experimented with lots of different genres over that time, but the band that gave us the fun and frolics of 2006’s breakthrough hit album With Love and Squalor are now entering their third decade together.

There’s no way around it, 2020 has been a bit of a stinker, so it’s no surprise to see Christmas celebrations underway spectacularly early this year. It seems we’re all just looking for a little way to forget all the pain and suffering this year has brought, and that’s absolutely understandable. In any normal year, a Christmas release in mid-November might cause a few grumbles among certain people, but given the storm of unpleasantness that 2020 has been, I think we can all just welcome it with open arms.

Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes reflect on the overwhelming pressures of their soaring careers in their collaboration ‘Monster.’ The two artists have a number of nearly-identical similarities that unite them in this profound contemplation. Both are from Ontario, Canada; they were both plucked from the ever-competitive platform of YouTube, they were thrust into the spotlight while they were mere teenagers, and they both went on to have unprecedented levels of female fan following. Currently, both Shawn and Justin are in high-profile relationships, which attract both scrutiny and adoration from the public on a daily basis. It’s no surprise that they were able to mine from their shared experiences and create something meaningful. 

Anne-Marie’s latest single ‘Problems’ reveals the self-destructive forces of love through sweet, serendipitous melodies that are just charming enough to make it work.

Miley Cyrus harks back to the rock ‘n roll era in her latest single ‘Prisoner,’ featuring pop sensation Dua Lipa. Miley’s raspy, soaring vocals have been begging for a glam-rock piece for a while now, whereas Dua Lipa’s disco-pop dynamism is just the perfect little piece for this rambunctious, mischievous cocktail. The two ladies are bursting with angst and recklessness, romping through the desert in their big, rowdy bus, complete with a cherry juice splatter display, seductive dance moves, and wayward energy that hasn’t been seen since the likes of Joan Jett and Metallica. 

London born singer-songwriter Rachel Keen – otherwise known as Raye – has forged a hugely successful career writing for the likes of Beyonce, Ellie Goulding and Little Mix, and provided vocals for hit records from the likes of Jonas Blue and David Guetta. However, her own solo career in front of the microphone has been a bit of a stop-start affair, with four EPs released over the last six years and a wide collection of singles to boot.

With a name like Tim Montana – yes, it’s his real name – the Nashville based singer-songwriter was perhaps always destined for a career in country music. But it’s safe to say Montana isn’t trading on his name alone. After being convinced to move from LA to Nashville by producer Johnny Hiland, he dropped his debut album Iron Horse – which Hiland played guitar on and provided backing vocals for, and produced – in 2007 to positive reviews.

Wakefield’s finest indie rockers The Cribs have had a turbulent few years. After rising to the top of the then-dominant indie scene in the mid-noughties with hits like Mens Needs, the Jarman brothers fell somewhat out of the limelight. Their last album, 2017’s 24-7 Rock Star Shit was a perfectly serviceable but slightly uninspired offering, but it was what came after the release of that record that threatened the outfit’s very existence.

Brighton-born Gracey is clearly enjoying her breakout year. After the runaway success of her collaboration with 220 Kid on the single Don’t Need Love, which reached a peak of number nine for two weeks in the UK singles chart, as well as songwriting credits for the likes of Sub Focus, Lorde, and Kylie Minogue and another smash collaboration with Alexander 23, the young singer-songwriter is back with her new seven-track EP The Art Of Closure.

Let’s cut to the chase, bshp (pronounced ‘bishop’) is a name that, based on this evidence, you’re going to be hearing a lot for more of.

Yorkshire-based indie psychedelia outfit Van Houten formed in 2017 out of Leeds College of Music and describe themselves in their Spotify bio (where they’ve already amassed well over 1,000 monthly listeners) as “slacker pop with a cherry on top”. They dropped their self-titled debut album through Clue Records last year and turned a lot of heads with their single Better Than This, an intoxicating and spacey affair that had something of a Pavement vibe to it.

Brooklyn-based indie outfit The Antlers continued their triumphant return this week with new song It Is What It Is. It’s their second new release in just a few weeks too, following hot on the heels of Wheels Roll Home, the first new material the band had put out since 2014’s Familiars, their fifth studio album.

It’s been a heck of a year for American country singer-songwriter Thomas Rhett. In February, Rhett and his wife welcomed their third daughter into the world, and then in September, he shared the prestigious ‘Entertainer of the Year’ award with Carrie Underwood at the 55th Academy of Country Music Awards. While I’m sure Rhett hasn’t been immune to the pain and difficulties caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, he’s still had plenty to celebrate in both his personal and professional life over the last twelve months, and good for him.

American singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton seemingly came out of nowhere with his smash hit debut album Traveller, which was nominated for the Grammy for Album of the Year and won the Grammy for Best Country Album at the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016. It was also named Album of the Year at the 2015 Country Music Association Awards and has been certified quadruple platinum, shifting well over 2.5 million copies since its release. Not bad for a debut from a previously unknown performer, eh?

Some people cynically claim that music as it used to be, full of soul, passion, and love, is gone. Well, if that’s the case, that’s because Cory Henry stole all of that for his own compositions.

Born in London, and now living in Copenhagen, twenty-year-old Mina Okabe dropped her debut single I’m Done this week and it is, like its singer and creator herself, a worldly and captivating affair. Okabe, who is Danish-Japanese, has already spent time living in New York and Manila, as well as her homeland, and there is an assured and wise feeling to the song that perhaps comes from her considerable life experience, despite her young age.

Composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Ólafur Arnalds started his career in music as a drummer with a series of metal bands in his native Iceland before transitioning into the ethereal soundscapes for which he has made his name. His work mixes together classical elements with flourishes of pop, rock and electronica to create music that transcends any single genre and delivers a fairly unique listening experience.

There’s a wide range of styles and influences at play on Lilly Ahlberg’ debut EP Call Me. Perhaps that’s not surprising given the young singer-songwriter’s nomadic life: she was born in Italy but also spent time living in the UK and Australia, though spent a good chunk of her young life in Sweden, growing up in the small town of Älmhult, the place that gave the world the flat-pack furniture behemoth IKEA.

You probably know Chilean-Norwegian singer-songwriter Nicolas Muñoz – otherwise known as Boy Pablo – from his 2017 single Everytime, the video for which went viral on YouTube, racking up millions of views within just weeks of being uploaded to the site thanks, in part, to a quirk of the website’s algorithm. Until that song dropped, Muñoz had enjoyed a growth in popularity in his homeland of Norway, gigging around his Bergen hometown and playing the Bergenfest festival. But Everytime sent Muñoz and his music global, and he’s building on that momentum with the release of his debut album Wachito Rico.

April Lawlor – known creatively just as April – began writing songs when she was only ten years old. By last year, she’d started posting her bedroom creations onto Soundcloud, and she quickly started winning fans. An early supporter was American indie-pop musician Alec Benjamin who invited her as support on to this European tour last year, leading to April playing a string of shows across the continent.

James Vincent McMorrow has crafted one hell of an infectious upbeat in his latest single ‘Gone.’ The Irish singer-songwriter that captured everyone’s heart with his rapturous cover of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ is dabbling with some unique R&B/pop sounds in the most recent piece.

Birdy laments her lost, wandering soul through a heartwrenching melody in her new single ‘Just Like a River Does’. As can be expected from any Birdy venture, the tune is rife with poignant piano chords and impassioned vocal work that will simultaneously soothe and sadden you.

With the Coronavirus pandemic resulting in widespread lockdown, Canadian singer-songwriter Donovan Woods holed up in a makeshift recording studio in his Toronto home and got to work on his seventh album, the aptly named Without People. It marked something of a change for Woods, whose blend of country-folk and sublime storytelling has garnered widespread critical acclaim, close to 300 million streams to date, and a JUNO Award for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year for his 2018 offering Both Ways.

Dutch DJ and producer Oliver Heldens founded his Heldeep Records label in 2015, and in the years since it has gained a reputation for giving young and talented, and more established producers a platform to let the world hear their sound. With his latest release though, Heldens didn’t feel it was quite right for Heldeep, and so he has founded a new label – OH2 Records – which has released the track.

Hailing from Sweden and otherwise known as Svea Virginia Kågemark, SVEA turned a lot of heads with her debut single Don’t Mind Me back in 2018, a smart, confident pop track with a message of empowerment. It marked her out as a rising star, and her follow up track Selfish only accelerated that reputation. Her 2019 single, Complicated, with Alexander Oscar has racked up millions of streams on Spotify.

Jade Bird’s latest single ‘Headstart’ explores the restlessness of an infatuation through a magical, saccharine melody. The English singer-songwriter doesn’t hesitate to lean on her vibrant, sweet-as-molasses voice that glides through the notes with ease. Her personality is beaming through the composition, and the instrumentation only heightens the spellbinding allure of Bird’s vocals.

Up and coming Moroccan Canadian singer / songwriter Faouzia has joined forces with American pop and RnB artists John Legend and Charlie Puth to create a stunning new track, “Minefields.” The single dropped this week and is already receiving rave reviews and the praise of fans everywhere.

Swedish singer and songwriter LÉON, otherwise known as Lotta Lindgren, dropped her self-titled debut album last year, four years after the release of her first single. In the intervening years, Lindgren spent time writing in LA, with the recording process taking place in London. The album received solid reviews and established her as an artist to watch.

WizKid, the alias of Lagos-born singer and songwriter Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, is undeniably one of Nigeria’s biggest stars. Since his hit single Holla At Your Boy blew up back in 2011, and his smash hit collaboration with Drake – One Dance – went to number one in no fewer than fifteen countries in 2016, WizKid and his eclectic mix of R&B, Afrobeats, dancehall, reggae, pop and hip hop has been on a collision course with global superstardom. With his new album Made In Lagos, it feels like he has finally fully arrived at that destination.

Model, actress, and now singer Paris Jackson took many listeners’ hearts with the release of her newest, and first, single: let down. For those who might’ve been keeping tabs on the entertainer, her foray into music might not have seemed like such a surprise, not only considering her background, but also with her current band, the Sound Flowers. However, judging on their music, to say this single was a surprise is a massive understatement.

Let me begin this review with a short story, one that many most likely shared in the last week. Like many others, I launched Spotify to begin a day of work, and was greeted by the cover for a new single titled Can’t Put It In The Hands Of Fate featuring artists like Rapsody, Cordae, Busta Rhymes and… Stevie Wonder? I wiped my eyes, morning coffee still kicking in, and stared blankly at my desktop’s screen.

American west coast singer, songwriter and keyboardist Jarrod Lawson won a whole host of fans with his self-titled debut album back in 2014. That record’s smooth blend of R&B and soul-infused jazz led to sold-out shows at London’s Ronnie Scott’s, gigs in China, Australia and Tokyo, and festival appearances at Rotterdam’s North Sea Jazz, Indonesia’s Java Jazz, and the UK’s Love Supreme events. His follow-up EP Jarrod Lawson at the BBC was recorded at the legendary Maida Vale studio, and he’s taken the title of Soul Artist Of The Year at the Jazz FM Awards.

The ever reclusive Mark Oliver Everett caught everyone slightly off guard this year when he dropped two surprise songs into the world. Baby Let’s Make It Real and Who You Say You Are marked a triumphant return for Everett, who under the Eels band name has released some dark albums charting his own intense personal pain and loss since the group’s superb debut album Beautiful Freak captivated legions of listeners back in the mid-1990s.

Dutch singer-songwriter Romy Dya is perhaps best known on UK shores for providing vocals for the 2019 Martin Garrix and David Guetta track So Far Away. In her homeland though, Dya has carved out a niche for penning tracks for a host of Dutch artists including The Voice of Holland winner of 2016 Maan, Sharon Doorson and Roxeanne Hazes. She’s also worked with the likes of Ghostface Killah and Busta Rhymes.

RuthAnne has had a remarkable career already. At just seventeen years of age, she relocated from Dublin to Los Angeles to chase her dream of a career in music. The very first song she wrote for a major artist was Jojo’s Too Little, Too Late, a top 5 hit in the Billboard Hot 100 back in 2006. She’s also written songs for the likes of Niall Horan and Britney Spears.

My Echo, the eleventh studio album from country legend Laura Veirs, must have been a devastatingly difficult body of work to complete. Her husband, Tucker Martine, produced the album while the couple went through couples therapy, only for their relationship to ultimately end in divorce before the album was released. But while there’s plenty of introspection and even sadness on My Echo, it is far from a bitter breakup record.

In the week in which NASA announced the irrefutable presence of water on the Moon, The Moons showed their own signs of life as they released their fourth studio album Pocket Melodies. Sure, the news that there’s water on the Moon might have the greater implications for space travel, and the human race as a whole, but if psychedelic, sixties-inspired, space-pop indie is your thing, then don’t let the Moon hog The Moons’ limelight.

Arlo Parks, the London-born rising star of indie-pop with the utterly mesmerising voice, is back with her powerful new single Green Eyes, as well as news of her hotly awaited new album which will be out next year and is called Collapsed in Sunbeams.

Since The Vamps scored their first number one album with 2017’s Night & Day, they’ve been on something of a self-imposed hiatus. Their new album, Cherry Blossom, marks their first release in three years, during which time Britain’s biggest pop-rock boy band have, naturally, grown up a little. The four-piece, comprised of Bradley Simpson, James McVey, Connor Ball and Tristan Evans, are not the teenagers they were when the band first came to fame.

Amy Shark wears her punk roots loud and clear in her latest single ‘C’MON’ featuring Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.

Ariana Grande demonstrates her mastery of the pop/R&B genre in her latest single ‘Positions.’ While the song is considerably less flashy than some of her previous features, it sneaks up on the listener with its earnest declarations of love and commitment.

Passenger’s latest single ‘A Song For The Drunk And Broken Hearted’ oddly manages to invite hope and companionship despite its exploration of grief. Passenger is a complete expert at tugging at heartstrings through his soulful, melancholic, and haunting melodies but the latest venture sees the British singer delve into some hearty folk-based sounds.

Hannah Grace’s new single ‘Closer’ is a daring pop adventure that pays homage to the groovy sixties in all the right ways. It rides on an unexpected melody that takes twists and turns at each and every note, setting itself apart from every other up-and-coming feature. The Welsh singer has had a dazzling couple of years and her willingness to experiment with distinct genres and arrangements has led to yet another enchanting production. Hannah Grace’s vocals are fairly standard, but the way she delivers those mischievous verses elevates the composition tenfold. The most memorable aspect of the song is the high-pitched harmony that drives the chorus; Grace is able to punch those soaring notes with ease without losing any of the momenta. 

Music mashups tend to be very hit and miss. They can either be masterful and brilliant or sad and tedious, often with little in between. But when done right, they can become pieces of art and music history. This latest offering, a delicious blend of Lady Gaga’s pop masterpiece “Just Dance” and rockers Linkin Park’s “Faint” created by YouTuber William Maranci, is absolutely done right.

Singer Daya explores the physical sensations of falling in love with her new single ‘First Time’. The 21-year-old single from Pennsylvania had stolen our hearts a couple of years back; her scintillating singles at the time showcased youthful vigour and a thoughtful maturity, an irresistible combination that was sure to put her name in our radars for good. However, following the release of her debut studio album Sit Still, Look Pretty, she’s been fairly quiet with a few singles here and there but no word of a second album. The latest entry, however, is widely associated with talk of a second album, and her core of fans couldn’t have asked for a better single. 

Labrinth pulls off yet another pristine, passionate endeavour through his latest number ‘No Ordinary.’ The British singer-songwriter has always displayed a knack for taking simple melodies and working wonders with them, and he does so again with this latest feature.

It’s more than a decade since Emma-Lee Moss, known professionally as Emmy The Great, first captured our imaginations with her delightful debut album First Love. Since then, the solo singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has called several places home: New York, London (where she spent her teenage years), Xiamen, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong (where she was born). Her latest LP, April / 月音, sees Moss explore her the impermanence of her life, the transition of one place of belonging to another, and the changing and uncertain state of these places right now.

London-based singer-songwriter Izzy Bizu dropped her latest single this week. MG follows hot on the heels of her previous single Tough Pill, which landed back in July. It’s another soulful, rich number of the sort she has carved out a burgeoning reputation for, and this time it features Bizu’s friend Dom McAllister too. The two first met when he supported Bizu on her tour of Europe in 2017. It was also co-written with another of Bizu’s friends: Tancrede Rouff.

American synthpop sensations Future Islands are back with their sixth studio album As Long As You Are, the follow up to 2017’s The Far Field. Still, though, the band remain perhaps most well known for their 2014 performance on the US TV show Letterman of their song Seasons, which thanks to frontman Samuel T. Herring’s utterly and completely compelling performance went viral (3.3 million YouTube plays and counting). And in a way, that makes sense. As a four-minute-something distillation of the band’s ethos, magic, quirks, power, showmanship, and, crucially, soul-stirring electro sound, there is little better.

Have you ever wondered what it felt like to have a panic attack in the most blissful way possible? Jesus Molina and his trio can easily show you with their recent track Night in Tunisia from Jesus' latest album, Departing.

Onto the list of rock supergroups that features the likes of Cream, Velvet Revolver, Asia, and Them Crooked Vultures you can now add The Jaded Hearts Club. Comprised of Miles Kane (lead vocals – Last Shadow Puppets), Nic Cester (lead vocals – Jet), Matt Bellamy (bass – Muse), Graham Coxon (guitars – Blur), Jamie Davis (Jamie Davis and Soul Gravy), and Sean Payne (drums – The Zutons), their Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band inspired name comes from the fact the group were originally assembled by Davis to perform Beatles covers at his own birthday party.

Scottish indie-rock superstars Travis remain one of the biggest selling British bands of the last thirty years thanks, in large part, to their 1999 smash hit album The Man Who, which spent nine weeks at the top of the UK albums chart, sold over three million copies, and spawned the songs Why Does It Always Rain On Me?, Turn, Writing To Reach You, and Driftwood: songs that remain on jukeboxes and playlists up and down the country. More than that, they’ve passed into wider British culture, as recognisable as anything by the venerated greats of UK music.

Chicago-born, LA-based Alexander Glantz – known as Alexander 23 – is generating a heck of a lot of interest. Signed to Interscope Records, the singer, songwriter and multiinstrumentalist spent the majority of 2019 on the road, including spots opening for Alec Benjamin.

With three hugely well-received LPs already under her belt (The Heart, The Body, and The Soul), excitement and anticipation are already growing for the debut album of singer-songwriter Starling, To Be Alive, though no release date has been set yet. In the meantime, the album’s lead single No Leader dropped this week and gave us all a peak at what we can expect from this rising star.

Dagny Norvoll Sandvik, known as Dagny, grew up in a musical family in Tromso, Norway. After moving to London in her early twenties, she was propelled to fame with her single Backbeat, which was used on the TV show Grey’s Anatomy and launched her on the path being one of Norway’s biggest stars, with over 450 million streams and a host of sold out tours to her name.

Irish singer-songwriter Gavin James has played shows with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Niall Horan, and amassed over a billion streams globally. In 2013 and 2016, he won the Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year award, and both his debut album, 2016’s Bitter Pill and it’s follow-up Only Ticket Home, reached the top five of the Irish albums chart. Now James is back with a hotly-anticipated new six-track EP, Boxes.

The ballad is a classic Demi venture — the young singer showcases her vulnerabilities whilst making room for self-empowerment and courage.

Los Angeles singer-songwriter Jesse Jo Stark has plenty of rock and roll pedigree. She’s the daughter of Richard and Laurie Stark, the couple behind Chrome Hearts, the fashion, fragrance and jewellery label that is an L.A. institution and has dressed all manner of celebrities over the decades, from Jay-Z to Mick Jagger. If that wasn’t enough, her godmother is none other than Cher.

Right now, the world needs Fleet Foxes more than ever. The American indie-folk outfit fronted by Robin Pecknold specialise in delivering shiny, shimmery laidback songs that take your cares away. The perfect antidote, then, to all this 2020 nonsense.

Believe it or not, Song To A Refugee – the new album from Nashville-based country singer-songwriter Diana Jones – owes its existence to Oscar-winning British actress Emma Thompson. It’s a sorrowful and powerful record that addresses the plight of those crossing the US-Mexico border, but without the film star who has appeared in films including Love Actually, The Remains Of The Day, Sense and Sensibility, and the Harry Potter series, it might not have even been created.

As a nineteen-year-old in 2003, Katie Melua released her debut album, Call Off The Search. It reached number one in the UK albums chart and sold a staggering 1.8 million copies in its first five months of release. The followup, Piece By Piece, has sold more than four million copies. By 2006, she had become the highest-selling female artist in the UK and Europe. Her rise was absolutely meteoric.

Make no mistake, this is a hotly anticipated debut offering. Pillow Queens, the Dublin four-piece with the risqué name who formed in 2016 and almost overnight won a legion of fans with their debut EP Calm Girls, have already wracked up sold-out tours across the UK and Ireland and played alongside the likes of IDLES, Pussy Riot, and American Football.

Royal Blood’s long-awaited return is finally here as the Brighton rock duo have released their first new music since their 2017 album How Did We Get So Dark. Ahead of the arrival of their third studio album, the band dropped new single Trouble’s Coming this week.

Los Angeles' KiNG MALA touches on themes of lust, recklessness and femininity in her work. Her last single, Sugarblind, was a swaggering track that gained widespread acclaim from the likes of Live Nation's Ones to Watch, Earmilk and American Songwriter to name a few. Fans will be glad to hear that her new single, If I Try To Find You, picks up where its predecessor left off.

London-based singer-songwriter Imogen Mahdavi only released her debut single Doormat Darling last year, but since then she’s been on a steady upward trajectory. She has starred in a lead role in the hit UK nationwide play Dressed, which she also penned the music for, while her track Crowd Of Thoughts, a soulful, ghostly number produced by Grammy Winner Eddie Serafica (Hamzaa, James Bay, Buddy Guy), won her even more fans and rave reviews from a host of publications. Now she’s back with new single Some Things Are Best Oversaid.

Bastille’s latest single ‘survivin’’ is just mellow enough to charm your socks off. The band has gained a reputation in recent years for undertaking dramatic features, complete with soaring choruses, intense instrumental solos, and sweeping melodies. But their latest tune keeps the proceedings smooth, refreshing yet oddly impassioned.