You've seen all those tip lists for 2017 (they're here if you haven't)
And you've heard who my friends think you should lend your ear to this year (it's here if you haven't)
So now it's time for the full list of artists I'd like to see do well in 2017...
I've already spoken about my first three a fair bit, especially if you've listened to that there Podcast, but just in case you're a terrible guy and haven't got around to it yet, here's a little recap. We'll start with Harrogate metal quartet Blood Youth. After supporting the likes of While She Sleeps and Every Time I Die throughout 2016 with their two EPs Inside My Head and Closure in tow, the latter part of last year saw them go into the studio to record their debut album. As undoubtedly one of the UK's most exciting upcoming rock/metal bands, Blood Youth's forthcoming record is likely to expand on the huge chorus meets massive riffs dynamic we've heard on their earlier efforts.
Next up is Dan Caplen, formerly known as D/C, also tipped by Apple Music for big things in 2017. His debut EP Badman released last summer combined classic soul themes with modern R&B. I'll be honest, he's the type of artist I'd take my mum to see to prove that I don't just listen to "rubbish" or "noise". The final of my first three is Leks Rivers who I have spoken beyond extensively about over the last couple of months. He's so fucking good, I implore you to give his debut EP Badlands a listen. So many different influences and ideas packaged into a mere 15 minutes. You won't regret it.
Let's get on with the rest then shall we!
Fours
Great band, great guys, great songs, great live... generally just pretty great and probably one of the most likeable bands I've ever come across. I'm not sure exactly what Fours are up to at the moment, but I think it's safe to say we're not too far away from hearing a new single from them. Fours are the kind of band that could fool you into thinking it's Summer during even the very darkest of the Winter months. As I mentioned, they're an absolute hoot live so I would strongly recommend attending one of their real life musical soirees, their first of which is part of Communion's showcase this coming Sunday (8th January).
George Maple
*sharp inhale of breath*... *whispers* We're getting George Maple's debut album this year. YEAH, you heard me. Since the release of her debut EP Vacant Space all most two years ago we've been waiting for something even meatier to get our teeth into and 2017 is our time. Both of Ms. Maple's 2016 singles, 'Sticks And Horses' and 'Lover' allude to a feisty and no holds barred full length, as I'd assume we can expect to see those tracks make an appearance. I can also only pray that Maple makes the short trip over from Australia back to the UK for some shows this year, because that's something we have been severely deprived of thus far.
RKCB
It's time. I've been stupidly in love with RKCB for a couple of years now. The kind of love that found me crying on late night trains home listening to their debut EP Short Films and then left me pining for more before the release of their latest EP In Contrast. The duo seem to have started a tradition of December releases which, if 2017 is anywhere near as tumultuous as 2016, is something to look forward to. The pair seriously stepped up their game last year with numerous collaborations as well as a short US tour in December. No doubt this year will be much of the same and hopefully they'll make it over to the UK for some dates too.
Astrid S
The most precious rising popstar the world of music could dream of, Astrid S is destined for stardom or at least a Nobel prize. Astrid S had already won we over with her single 'Hyde' at the end of 2015 and even more so with her debut EP release Hurts So Good last year, but it was the videos from her European tour in November that led to me to have my awakening. Not only was she buying her fans in the queues to her shows pizza, and taking them for crepes, she paid for a girl who missed her flight to an Astrid S show to fly to the next show instead. SHE PAID FOR THE FLIGHT. Astrid S is a fully fledged angel. I'd be surprised if we didn't hear any new music from Astrid this year, be it an EP or album. Either way, she's hot on Zara Larsson's heels as one of the most exciting young Nordic artists around.
Anna Straker
I've never posted Anna Straker on WIIHAMB before so she may seem a bit of an odd choice for an artist I'd like to see do well in 2017 but she's got this. Her Facebook page says that she's 19 years old... so she might be but there's always a chance that she's had a birthday and not got around to updating that yet, you can never really tell. Regardless, Straker is young and exciting when it comes to the kind of pop music she's making. She first started kicking up a storm over the summer with her single 'How We Are', a fun party tune for all involved. This track featured on her debut EP released in November alongside title track 'Serious', which really shows Straker's talents. Packed with 90s dance influences alongside catchy vocal lines, do I need to bother even providing an ounce more evidence as to why Anna Straker is one to keep an eye on? Nah, didn't think so.
Hi everybody, welcome back to The Middle Eight Podcast. First of all I'd like to apologise for the shoddy audio quality this month. It's a lot sketchier for the first ten minutes or so than it is for the rest of the episode. It's still a mystery as to what happened but I've tried to clean it all up as best I can with my limited skill-set. Will try harder to get good next time.
This month I asked my mates Ross Martin, Josie Robinson and Matthew Kent to join me to chat about some of our 2017 tips/artists to watch out for over the next year or so. Give it a listen to hear those as well as anecdotes of Josie's teenage years, Matthew being shaded on another podcast, and our thoughts on Spotify's Year In Music's absence.
Here's this episode's Spotify playlist:
And here's everything else you need to know:
Natalie's Tips
Blood Youth - Four piece metal band from Harrogate set to release their debut album in 2017.
Song to check out: 'Mood Swing' - music video / Apple Music / Spotify
Latest EP: Closure - Apple Music / Spotify
Dan Caplen - London based R&B/soul singer/songwriter formerly known as D/C and also tipped for big things this year by Apple Music.
Song to check out: 'Longing For You' - Soundcloud / Apple Music / Spotify
Debut EP: Badman - Apple Music / Spotify
Léks Rivers - Genre bending urban artist from London making waves after the release of his debut EP a mere month ago.
Song to check out: 'No Rest For The Wicked' - music video / Apple Music / Spotify
Debut EP: Badlands - Apple Music / Spotify
Ross' Tips
Bossy Love - Glasgow duo making off the wall electronic pop meets R&B bops.
Song to check out: 'Call Me Up' - Soundcloud / Apple Music / Spotify
Marian Hill - American duo who released their debut album in 2016 and have recently collaborated with Fifth Harmony member, Lauren Jauregeui
Song to check out: 'Back To Me' - Soundcloud / Apple Music / Spotify
Debut album: Act One - Apple Music / Spotify
Bishop Briggs - Energetic indie pop artist just announced to play Coachella 2017
Song to check out: 'Wild Horses' - music video / Apple Music / Spotify
Off Bloom - Danish trio now based in London channelling Eastern sounds on their debut EP released back in October
Song to check out: 'Love To Hate It' - music video / Apple Music / Spotify
Debut EP: Love To Hate It - Apple Music / Spotify
Skott - Much talked about Swedish singer signed to Chess Club Records with shows all across Europe lined up for 2017 including appearances at The Great Escape and Eurosonic
Song to check out: 'Wolf' - Soundcloud / Apple Music / Spotify
Pinegrove - New Jersey based indie band signed to Run For Cover Records and set to tour The UK and Europe throughout February/March
Song to check out: 'Aphasia' - Soundcloud / Apple Music / Spotify
Debut album: Cardinal - Apple Music / Spotify
Pronoun - Indie pop singer/songwriter and great playlist maker from New York
Song to check out: a million other things - Soundcloud / Apple Music / Spotify
Debut EP: There's no one new around you. - Apple Music / Spotify
Frank Gamble - Hannah Yaddi's new two-piece project creating pop hits and interesting visuals
Song to check out: 'Heart Speaks' - Soundcloud / Apple Music / Spotify
MUNA - Hotly tipped indie pop three piece releasing their debut album on 3rd February 2017
Song to check out: I Know A Place - Apple Music / Spotify
Debut EP: Loudspeaker - Apple Music / Spotify
Can you believe it's that time already? Time for 2017's annual Tips Venn Diagram! Lo and behold:
Before we go any further there are some things to note. There was no Blog Sound Poll this year, yes, that is the sound of my heart shattering. Secondly, let's discuss Vevo Dscvr's omission from this year's diagram. The first reason for this is quite simply because including it would have been a logistical nightmare in design terms, even more so considering Vevo's list is a whopping 20 artists long. However, the main reason is because with, as you can see, so many crossover artists covered by the three lists above, it wasn't fair to lump a genuinely well crafted list in with the all of those obvious choices.
So here are Vevo Dscvr's Ones To Watch:
(AJ Tracey, Big Jesus, Creeper, Dagny, Jorja Smith, Kiah Victoria, K.I.D, Maggie Rogers, Nadia Rose, Raye, Russ, Skott, Stanaj, TENDER, The Big Moon, The Magic Gang, Tkay Maidza, Will Joseph Cook, Young M.A and 070 Shake)
Although I can't offer alternatives of similar popularity, I do find the vast majority of picks this year a bit odd. There don't seem to be any obvious winners of the BBC Sound Poll, although if I had to predict a top five it would probably be Rag 'N' Bone Man, Raye, Jorja Smith, Declan Mckenna and The Japanese House, but it still feels a bit like it could go anyone's way. [EDIT: Obviously I wrote this sentence prior to the start of Radio 1 counting down the top five.] However, there are two artists who appear on all four lists in question: Raye and Ray Blk. I was a fan of Raye's debut EP/mixtape, Welcome To The Winter, but I haven't really liked anything she's done since then. To be honest, I didn't think Second was a good body of work at all and I'm still quite lost as to why other humans liked it, but Raye definitely does have good song-writing ability in her. I consciously slept on Ray Blk throughout 2016 including not bothering to catch her supporting SG Lewis and letting her EP pass me by, and I am willing to admit that was an error on my part. Other artists who received three out of four nods from the lists above are AJ Tracey, The Amazons, Nadia Rose, and Jorja Smith.
On a personal note, I don't have much of a fondness for many of the highlighted tips. The most exciting name to see was Dan Caplen on Apple Music's New for 2017 list. Anderson Paak's place on the BBC Sound of longlist seems fair but with the release of his debut album almost a year ago, it feels as though maybe he should have been featured back in 2015. I'm also glad to see JP Cooper on two of the lists but with quite a bit of mainstream support over the last few months I was surprised not to see him on the BBC Sound of poll.
Although it comes as no surprise that the most disappointing aspect of these tip lists is the omission of rock. No, The Magic Gang and Will Joseph Cook do not count Whilst The Amazons feature in the centre of the Venn, Vevo have picked up another couple of bands with Creeper and Big Jesus but two out of twenty acts still isn't very representative, is it, for a world as big as rock and metal? This gives the impression that there aren't (m)any young rock acts worth noting or keeping an eye on which is super fucked up because there are, spanning a number of sub-genres, but it definitely won't seem like it to people in "the mainstream" if these outlets aren't pushing them. Also, in a contrast to the last couple of years, it feels like there's almost an over-representation of urban/rap artists which I find... bewildering.
Despite this, Vevo Dscvr really succeeds in carrying out the mission of a tip list. Bringing upcoming and genuinely promising artists of all backgrounds to the attention of the casual music fan. Hell, there were three artists on their list I'd straight up never heard of before, and as a fan of many-a-genre I was shocked by that. There are four female rappers of colour on Vevo's list, including two who are openly LGBT; already we're winning. In fact, men barely get a look in on this list. Well, that's not strictly true but at a glance there are definitely far fewer of them, and that's interesting. Shake it up, Vevo.
Finally I just want to mention two artists finding themselves on The Venn Diagram (and the Vevo Dscvr list) for a second year running. The Big Moon and The Japanese House were both voted on to the Blog Sound Poll longlist last year and The Japanese House also found herself on 2016's Vevo Dscvr list. Yet more proof Vevo know what they're talking about when it comes to new music.
If you're even remotely interested in my artists I'd like to see do well posts then stay tuned because there is a new episode of The Middle Eight Podcast landing imminently and then I'll be discussing all of my picks in more detail on Thursday!
