Adele called, potentially about a thousand times. She’s not going in New Music Monday.
Blaenavon – Destiny’s Mild
Blaenavon, a band with potentially the most difficult name to spell, are a three-piece guitar band who have been playing together since the age of thirteen. Now still only nineteen, they’re releasing their second EP with none other than Zane Lowe supporting them. Not bad.
Continuing the ‘mature beyond their years’ stereotype that was so prominently used to describe their debut, the band have produced another set of songs awash with emotion and reverb.
Anyone who’s partial to The Smiths or Jeff Buckley should definitely keep an eye out for its release.
Seinabo Sey – Pretend
[video:https://youtu.be/6xbX5hCk9FE]Seinabo Sey caught blogger’s attention last year with the release of the Quentin Tarantino inspired ‘Pistols At Dawn’, a dramatic number that highlighted the Swedish singer’s soulful potential.
Fast-forward to now and the release of her debut album Pretend.
The soulful voice has remained, but now it’s accompanied by a swagger more akin to Beyonce than Aldo Raine. The title track in particular has an almost 90s beat to it, whilst the overall album is a very eclectic affair, ranging from the sombre ballads ‘Sorry’ and ‘Burial’ to beat-heavy soul numbers like ‘Hard Time’ and ‘Easy’.
All in all, a very promising debut.
Zola Blood – Pieces Of The Day
Zola Blood are a four-piece indie-pop band from London who continue to push the envelope of their pop boundaries.
Indie-pop is a description usually reserved for repetitive, twee piano-acts like Scouting For Girls or Walk The Moon. Zola Blood however, take on the label as a challenge. Whilst remaining within the confines of being radio friendly, the band incorporate complex textures into their work, rarely conforming to a rigid instrumental set-up.
‘Pieces Of The Day’ is a good example of this. The sounds swirl around, sometimes indistinguishable to each other, creating a hazy, ambient vortex of a modern pop song.
Frances – Let It Out
[video:https://youtu.be/O5X5ZUvq5XY align:center]A singer/songwriter who’s tipped for very big things in 2016.
Despite ‘Let It Out’ being released last month, it’s recently gained support from a number of radio stations – so let’s pretend it’s brand new.
‘Let It Out’ is a delightfully innocent and simple song. Echoing the likes of Birdy and Billie Marten (another new singer you should check out), Frances is a warm mug of a songwriter – perfect for the stupidly dark, miserable afternoons that are to follow in the coming months.
What do you think of our picks this week? Let us know in the comments below!
