We’re nearly wrapped up with all things music for this year and to give our readers a send-out, we thought it would be a great idea to summarise some of the artists that have been on our radar for some time. The artists we’ve picked have all made great moves this year and are expected to hit harder in the music scene in the New Year.
MARIE DAHLSTRØM
Marie has picked up masses of Hype Machine appreciation from her latest EP ‘O.O’. The future star has worked with pop mastermind songwriters and producers Aston Rudi (Elli Ingram and Ray BLK), Tom Misch and Chiara Hunter (Fleur East and Dua Lipa).
Her next show on January 27th is her first in a long while and is held at the well-respected St James Church in London. Marie’s vocal stylings remain firmly rooted in jazz and soul and she has already begun accelerating past many R&B acts.
RAYE
RAYE woke the attention of many with her single ‘I U US’, written by her with collaborator and friend Charli XCX. The similarly named EP followed in October featuring remixes from AlunaGeorge and more.
With plaudits from the likes of BBC Radio 1’s Clara Amfo, 1Xtra’s MistaJam and MTV. It won’t be long before RAYE explodes.
BORN STRANGER
Born Stranger are Maddox-Jones and Raife Hacking, a pair of minds that together craft electronic pop that dare to push boundaries with their intrinsic futuristic edge. The first year into their career has seen them release of their debut single ‘Fire & The Flame’, which garnered support from The Independent and Pop Justice. To then play their debut show at the legendary venue London KOKO, while their more recent single ‘Be Someone’ has recently been chosen to soundtrack to Farah’s SS17 campaign adverts.
2017 is already looking the year the electro-pop duo Born Stranger will impact heavily. While sitting on an album’s worth of material, in January their new single will be dropping and a following single with an exciting collaboration. With a handful of music videos and live shows to announce in the near future, next year will be career defining for the duo.
DELAIRE
London songster Delaire is acknowledged to perfect emotive and soulful synth pop, where every song rings personality unravels in her storytelling. This is all evident in her latest single ‘Healing in Love’, which received huge support from trendsetters Clash and 1883 Magazine. This year Delaire was invited to play BBC Maida Vale Studios and has seen strong radio support from BBC Introducing. On top of the busy summer festival season with playing Blissfields, Lee Fest and to then playing sold out shows at The Finsbury and The Servant Jazz Quarters.
With a handful of elated synth-filled singles in the works to release in 2017, Delaire is more than set to influence listeners everywhere and take her music to stages ahead of the festival season.
ADAL
Enigmatic 'future pop' artist formerly known as Phantom Runners deals in modern doses of pop that hint his love of 80s classics and 90s RNB. ADAL is currently writing a debut album, with an array of featuring vocalists which include FREJA, Indiana, Delaire and XY&O. 2017 is set to be an exciting year for the 'king collaborator', while he launches his new project by the name of ADAL.
2016 was a busy year for ADAL having played a number of summer festivals with his band Phantom Runners in 2016 which included Great Escape, Lee Fest, Blissfields, Sound City, Southsea Fest and BST Fest and are creating a serious live buzz.
FOND OF RUDY
Prosperous indie pop group Fond of Rudy have a burgeoning talent for fusing diluted guitar filled rock with contemporary pop so finely. 2016 saw no challenge to them after scoring praises with their latest single ‘The Line’ from Wonderland Magazine and Clash. The Brighton based quartet also performed to thousands this summer from playing respected festivals The Great Escape and Blissfields.
Having been prepared for 2017 for months now, the next few months will hark the release of their next single, the release of their anticipated EP ‘Two’ and some exciting festival appearances in the summer.
BONZAI
Her intricate sound that conjures a mix of rave, part industrial, part hip-hop and part soul - all blended with great songwriting, this all makes for exciting and highly developed pop music.
Supporting good friends and electronic heavyweights Flume and long-time collaborator Mura Musa on tour, Bonzai has been supported well by tastemakers Annie Mac and Vogue.
RAG N BONE MAN
The cross-genre prodigy has achieved phenomenal success of his single Human. His blues approach to pop music has been recognised globally from not only the huge success of his single ‘Human’ but from his relentless work ethic and this is exactly why he made the longlist on BBC Sound Of 2017.
MAGIC GANG
Brighton bunch Magic Gang and have been spoon feeding tracks out to fans for a couple of years now. They’ve supported the likes of Swim Deep and Wolf Alice and their sound sits somewhere between 60s rock with a splash of power pop.
