ARTIST: Haim

It is a sad thing that girl-fronted pop bands are rare in music these days. Sure, there are plenty of solo singers and girl groups, but do they play their own instruments or write their own songs? Breaking the mould is Haim. Made up of sisters Este, Danielle and Alana, this band hails from Los Angeles and has been filling the charts with retro R&B tunes.

It seemed clear from the beginning that music was a likely path for them. As children they formed a band with their parents called Rockinhaim, and their musical skills developed until they eventually decided to form a group of their own – Haim. All three sisters are talented multi-instrumentalists, only needing the addition of drummer Dash Hutton for their live shows. After releasing a couple of singles with growing success, the group received more recognition in the UK after the announcement that they had topped the BBC’s Sound of 2013 music industry poll. Then in September 2013, after the release of debut album Days Are Gone, the band’s popularity skyrocketed. Since then they have been touring widely, and have played many big festivals like Glastonbury and Coachella.

When we first heard of Haim, and more specifically heard single Don’t Save Me, we immediately wrote them off as nothing special, and not worth the hype. Only a few short months later we were happy to eat our words, and purchased Days Are Gone. There are no filler tracks on this album, oh no – each song is a gem in itself. With punchy lyrics and catchy riffs, their retro style has made an impact like no other band of recent times. Our favourites include Don’t Save Me and If I Could Change Your Mind (check out the fab dancing in the video below!).

After loads of touring and promoting the album, the sisters will soon be heading back to the States to start work on album No. 2. Next month will mark the release of My Song 5, featuring A$AP Ferg. Beyond that, we are extremely excited about what is next for Haim. Only time will tell if they can live up to the expectations that they have created.

https://www.facebook.com/haimtheband

https://twitter.com/HAIMtheband

ARTIST: Eliza and the Bear

Our constant quest to find new and exciting music has led to us discovering many new bands. Some we like, some we don’t. However, there are a tiny few that we immediately fall in love with. Eliza and the Bear is one of those bands.

Based in London, this five-piece had only played together for 18 months before forming the band. Their first release was Trees back in 2012, and this was quickly followed by a free download of Brother’s Boat. This helped them to gain popularity, and they later released Upon The North/The Southern Wild, It Gets Cold, a re-release of Brother’s Boat, and their latest single, Friends. Despite having only put out a handful of singles, the buzz surrounding Eliza and the Bear has been building for a while, and now the band are playing packed venues. With rumours of an album coming out in the autumn of this year, it shouldn’t be too long before you hear a lot more of them.

So why do we like Eliza and the Bear? Well, what hit us first was the anthemic nature of their tracks. With bold choruses and catchy melodies, we immediately wanted to sing along. Their music has an undeniably folky edge, and the inclusion of a horn section has made for an irresistible combination. With each song having a summery, upbeat feel, Eliza and the Bear keeps us going back for more. Our favourites are Brother’s Boat and The Southern Wild.

The summer is set to be a busy one for Eliza and the Bear, with appearances at many British festivals. This will then be followed by a UK tour in September and October, so be sure to grab some tickets if you want to catch them live. We are convinced that this band is going to be massive. Despite being unsigned, they have still managed to build a huge following, and their appealing folk-pop can only attract more fans. We have fallen in love with this band, and we are sure that everyone else will too.

https://www.facebook.com/elizaandthebear

https://twitter.com/elizaandthebear

ARTIST: Tom Odell

This week marks a year since the release of Long Way Down, Tom Odell’s long-awaited debut album, and we think that makes it about time to talk about him. We first saw him on Later… With Jools Holland back in 2012 performing Another Love. We saw it, liked it and then promptly forgot about it. However, we were thankfully reminded in the lead up to the release of A Long Way Down.

Tom Odell, a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from Chichester, began writing songs at the age of 13, and studied classical piano to Grade 7. After deciding not to go to university, Tom gigged relentlessly at open-mike nights. Eventually he was spotted by none other than British pop diva Lily Allen. Newly signed, he released the EP Songs From Another Love in October 2012. His single, Another Love, gained unexpected popularity, and he won the BRITs’ Critics’ Choice Award at the 2013 BRIT Awards. This kick-started his career, sending his debut album Long Way Down to No 1 in UK Official Chart.

Long Way Down is an album filled with conflicting emotions of love and heartbreak. It starts with Grow Old With Me, a contemplation of ageing with a loved one. Hold Me is a rowdy, drunken anthem which describes the stages of a new relationship. The first eight bars of Another Love seem impossible to listen to without feeling some sort of emotion. This heartrending song tells of being unable to move on from an ended relationship, and it is in this track that Tom shows his real skill as a songwriter. I Know laments a love affair that will never take place, while Till I Lost considers not knowing what you have until it is gone. Clearly relationships are the main theme throughout the album, but this must be what works for Tom, as he has managed to get some outstanding material from a broken heart. The listener experiences the emotional highs and lows with him, and this is why we feel that Long Way Down is an outstanding album.

It’s no surprise that we were desperate to see Tom’s skinny jeans and funny haircut in the flesh, so in October 2013 we went to his gig at the O2 Academy in Glasgow. After some unremarkable support acts, we were keen for him to entertain us with our favourite tracks. And entertain he did. Tom performed with a band, and his songs definitely had a rockier edge live than on the album. He played all of his hits, plus a few well-received covers. The crowd loved his crooning vocals, and we would recommend experiencing him live.

Far from slowing down after all of his success, Tom has been going from strength to strength. He was recently named ‘Songwriter of the Year’ at the Ivor Novello Awards, and will be playing at a multitude of summer festivals across the UK and Europe. With a second album in the works and growing respect from musicians and fans alike, we reckon that for Tom Odell, the only way is up.

https://www.facebook.com/TomOdellmusic

https://twitter.com/tompeterodell

ARTISTS: Bastille

We first heard the silky-smooth tones of Bastille’s Dan Smith in March 2013 when their hit Pompeii was topping the charts. One minute we were curious, checking what all the fuss was about by listening to clips on iTunes. The next minute we were hooked. Well over a year later, our devotion, and their success, is still going strong. But their fame has been anything but sudden. For the last few years they have been gradually building up their support in order to take the charts by storm.

It all started when lead singer Dan Smith was entered into a music competition by a friend whilst still at university in Leeds. He won, and this led to him putting his ambitions of being a journalist aside in order to pursue a career in music. After performing under his own name for a couple of years, Dan decided to form a proper band. Bastille – named after the French holiday on which Dan’s birthday falls – was born. Dan, along with keyboard player Kyle Simmons, bassist Will Farquarson and drummer Chris ‘Woody’ Wood continued to make music with Dan’s song writing skills at the forefront.

The group continued to expand their ever-growing fanbase by releasing new material and playing minor festival slots, and little by little they began to get more attention from the media. In 2012 they released their free mixtapes, Other People’s Heartache Part 1 & 2, which featured mash-ups of covers with their own songs. By this time they were signed to Virgin Records, and destined to go far.

In hindsight, 2013 was always going to be Bastille’s year. They had been building up momentum with the releases of their singles Overjoyed, Bad Blood and Flaws during 2012. The release of their debut album Bad Blood and their fourth single Pompeii in early 2013 propelled them into the mainstream. Cue a whirlwind of tours sending them as far as Australia and the US, television appearances and slots at major festivals such as Glastonbury.

With all the dashing about between tours and promotions, you could think that the four would be running out of steam. Yet Dan, Kyle, Woody and Will still remain down-to-earth and focused on their music. Read or watch any interview and you will find them humorous, sarcastic and cripplingly self-deprecating. Yes, they have success, fame and have probably made quite a bit of money, but it is clear that they don’t take any of this for granted, or think that it is going to last. However, this only makes them more likeable.

So what’s next for Bastille? A new album and mixtape in the works shows that they have not stopped working hard, despite their success. Fingers crossed that these releases will be out before the end of the year. It seems that only time will tell if they will be able to replicate the success of their first album. We know that whatever comes next for Bastille, we will be watching, and eagerly waiting.

https://www.facebook.com/bastilleuk

https://twitter.com/bastilledan

ARTISTS: To Kill A King

We are very ashamed to say that we had heard of To Kill A King for a whole year before we properly started listening to their music. We knew of their existence through Bastille, but didn’t get round to actually listening to them due to a Bad Blood binge. What were we thinking? Hearing one song soon led to another and another, and we have had the joy of discovering their music over the last few months. We think it is something that is really worth sharing.

The brainchild of lead singer Ralph Pelleymounter, To Kill A King was formed around 2010. Their first single, Fictional State, was released in 2011, followed by their first EP, My Crooked Saint. This was later followed by the Word Of Mouth EP the following year, and then their debut album Cannibals With Cutlery.

We first started listening to the My Crooked Saint EP, and were immediately drawn in by Bloody Shirt. With its catchy earworm riffs and haunting lyrics, it is clearly the standout song of the EP, though the poignant We Used To Protest/Gamble is also worth a mention.
Soon we couldn’t wait any longer, and bought the Deluxe Edition of Cannibals With Cutlery. We were not disappointed. We don’t think that it’s too much to say that every song seems like an individual masterpiece. We would love to write about each one, but sadly it would be best to keep this under 1000 words! From the opening hazy piano notes of I Work Nights And You Work Days to the life-affirming Funeral, the woeful Fictional State and the upbeat Rays, this is an album of which length is completely justified. Pelleymounter’s songwriting skill is evident, and Cannibals With Cutlery is quickly becoming one of our favourite LPs.

There is more to To Kill A King than just releases, though. Be sure to check out the Ralph’s Balcony sessions, which were a series of performances by Ralph and some of his musician friends (below is our favourite, a glorious version of Choices). Though these had come to a close, the series was revived during their recent US tour. Also worth a look is the To Kill A King website, which features their hilarious blog, telling of their recent adventures and goings-on, and downloadable chords and lyrics for many of their songs. See the links below for Facebook and Twitter. We are desperate to see this band live, so we will be keeping our eyes peeled and fingers crossed, as we truly believe that this band is worth following.

https://www.facebook.com/tokillaking

https://twitter.com/ToKillAKing

http://tokillaking.co.uk/

ARTIST: Dan Croll

Dan Croll hasn’t been on our radar for too long, but he is already making a big impact here and in the States. We first came across him supporting Bastille in a series of UK gigs in October, and we were immediately hooked on his catchy melodies and unique vocals. This singer-songwriter studied in Liverpool, and has had the thumbs-up from none other than Sir Paul McCartney. Although his album came out in March, we simply couldn’t wait that long, and downloaded standout single From Nowhere. Its funky beats and unforgettable riffs made for constant playing.

His debut album Sweet Disarray came out a week before we saw him again at ‘King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut’ in Glasgow. His set consisted of his entire album, plus a couple of well-received bonus extras. Sweet Disarray is the perfect soundtrack for your summer; it is upbeat, light-hearted indie pop, with touching and occasionally amusing lyrics.

Dan is also in touch with his fans; his Youtube channel features track-by-track insights into every song on Sweet Disarray, and also tutorials on how to play his own songs. Our favourite tracks, as well as From Nowhere, include Only Ghost, Always Like This, and Sweet Disarray. If you want to catch him live he will be playing a range of summer festivals, including T in the Park, Indiependence, and Boardmasters.

Check him out here:

https://www.facebook.com/dancroll

https://twitter.com/DanCroll