A lot of the time, my blogs revolve around specific artists or albums, or even some current music news. I never just recommend new artists and songs, so I felt I needed to change that, especially with the all the amazing music that came out in January. I was able to find a bunch of new artists, as well as some well-known musicians changing their sound. I was even able to see some live music this month. I have a lot of recommendations, and hopefully at least one will suit your fancy.
Not really a new artist, but new to me, is Years & Years. This English electronica trio came out with a video for their new single “King” earlier this month and it was a perfect introduction to their pumped up, hip, electronic music. They enlisted Sia’s “Chandelier” choreographer Ryan Heffington to create this striking video. The bouncing beats and airy synths coincide perfectly with the unique choreography as dancers control Olly Alexander, the lead singer’s, every move. It’s a thought-provoking and creative video that is definitely not hurt by the fact that the song is a total hit.
On a more familiar note, Rihanna shocked us all this month with what seems to be a folk song. On January 24, she dropped her first song off the highly anticipated R8, entitled
“FourFiveSeconds.” With the help of Paul McCartney’s acoustic guitar and Kanye West’s less than perfect singing, we get to see another side of Rihanna. “All of my kindness/Is taken for weakness,” she eloquently sings over the minimalist production of Paul’s simple guitar. Not only is the instrumental production minimal, but the vocals lack any manufacturing. Both Rihanna and Kanye have raw and truthful voices. I was a little shocked when I first heard it, for I was expecting some pumped up club hit. However, I can’t say I’m upset. I really like this song—and I doubt Rihanna is going to become a folk star—but I’m digging the experimentation. Unfortunately, there is no audio available to me to include in this article, so I would highly recommend you go check it out yourself on iTunes. You won’t be disappointed.
Taking a quick detour into live music, this last Monday, I went to the Sam Smith concert up in Broomfield. Sam hasn’t released any new music, but his opener, George Ezra, just dropped his first full-length album this past Tuesday, Wanted on a Voyage. He was amazing live, and, because the album wasn’t out yet, he gave us a sneak peek of some of his new music. “Barcelona,” a simplistic, laid-back tune, was my favorite. During his performance, he talked about how he traveled all over Europe for a month and just wrote music, which tells us where this song and his hit, “Budapest” came from.
For my final recommendation, I have a brand-new group: Oh Wonder. This male and female London-based duo creates romantic harmonies and sparse instrumentation that transport you into a muted, dreamy world. Their most recent single, “The Rain,” begins with a vintage-sounding flute and then hooks you in with soft voices and passionate piano. To me, they sound like an electronic, R&B version of Of Monsters & Men, but every story I’ve read on them gives a different artist they resemble—everything from The xx to Tegan & Sara. They are really unique and only recently broke into BBC Radio 1’s introducing playlist, so there is a lot ahead for them, and I look forward to more amazing music. They only have five songs at the moment, but all of them are pure gold, so make sure to give all of them a listen.
I know finding music can be difficult, but I do have a few tricks to find new artists. If you have a Spotify account, find an artist you like, and on their page there should be a “related artists” column—click the artists you don’t know and continue clicking on their related artists. I guarantee you’ll find someone new that you really enjoy. Also, if you really want to do some digging, look at music blogs. Two I follow are MuuMuse and Unrecorded—both very different, but both have amazing recommendations.
http://open.spotify.com/user/dutastyjams/playlist/1YS36uhUeDXYOBWYnhBYVf
