Kyla La Grange - Cut Your Teeth
As an artist, changing your sound is always a risky operation. If done well, it can significantly increase your fan base and allow your music to reach a wider audience, however, if done badly you end up compromising your credibility and alienating your initial fan base.
Fortunately, this isn't the case for Kyla La Grange. Kyla caught my attention with her gutsy debut album Ashes, which had an earthy folk-rock sound. Her new track, Cut Your Teeth is completely different animal, here Kyla trades soaring choruses and acoustic guitar for soft vocals and throbbing beats. The result is a subtle and addictive track which might well give Kyla the acclaim she deserves (it has already racked up over 100,000 Soundcloud plays in under a week).
Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne - Rather Be
I first fell in love with Clean Bandit's sound back in late 2012 with their debut single proper 'A&E', their beats sounded so crisp and fresh, especially the incorporation of strings. They continued to improve and get more acclaim with every new track, in early 2013 they reached number 17 on the UK singles chart with the wonderfully weird 'Mozart's House', which was playlisted by Radio 1, as was their underrated summer jam 'Dust Clears'.
But I feel it is 2014 which will truly be their year, latest single 'Rather Be' which features excellent vocals from Jess Glynne (one to watch for 2015) has also received heavy Radio 1 rotation and looks set to scale the charts (it's already sitting pretty in the top 20 based on pre-orders alone). I'm not surprised, it strikes the balance between experimental and radio-friendly dance music. Their is no one else making music like they are and this is why they deserve to dominate 2014.
Patten - Drift
From one end of the experimental electronica spectrum to the other; Patten is a London-based producer who met critical acclaim with his strangely titled debut album
GLAQJO XAACSSO, which I wasn't too fond of to be honest. However, his latest track 'Drift' is a lot more up my street. It's a somewhat suffocating listen (in the best possible way) with it's chopped up samples and intensifying beats. It eventually settles towards in the end into a nice synth melody. His new album ESTOILE NAIANT (released 24th February) is the most exciting electronic record since Factory Floor's self-titled debut.
Lyla Foy - Feather Tongue
Lyla Foy (formerly WALL) will release her debut album Mirrors In The Sky in March and has put out a rather lovely track to support the release in the form of Feather Tongue. As the name suggests, Feather Tongue is delicate and fragile, her ethereal vocals float over a chilled electro-folk production. Judging by this and earlier single 'Easy', her debut album will be very good indeed.
The Casket Girls - Same Side
I discovered Savannah trio The Casket Girls' by accident on Soundcloud a mere two days ago and it was love at first listen. 'Same Side' is a reverb-soaked sun-drenched psych-pop anthem with a hell of a chorus. Their sophomore album True Love Kills The Fairy Tale will be released on February 11th and judging by the tunes they've put out so far it is likely to be one for the summer months.
Angel Olsen - Hi-Five
If I couldn't have already been excited enough for this record, Angel Olsen went and dropped this. 'Hi-Five' is a blues-rock/alt-country track which along with previous album cut 'Forgiven/forgotten' is taken from her forthcoming sophomore record Burn Your Fire For No Witness, which I have already hyped to death. The lyric “Are you lonely too? Are you lonely too?/Hi-five, so am I” makes light of the otherwise horrible feeling of loneliness. So thanks for that, Angel.
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