The Hype Machine's at it again. The blog-aggregating site – purveyors of what's cool before it's cool in new music – has put together its list of acts to keep an eye out for in the second half of 2014. For those readers who don't spend their time online furiously tab-hopping from one music blog to the next, the list is sort of the internet's version of a mid-year BBC Sound of … poll.
Substitute "major players in the industry" for "Hype Machine data on the songs 800 influential blogs are posting", and you're about there. In partnership with BBC 6Music, the site unveiled a list of 20 new names who might just go onto big things in the biz. Have a listen to them all, listed here from A to Z.
Alice Boman
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From: Malmö, Sweden
Label: Adrian Recordings/4AD/Happy Death
What we said: "Recalling the delicate intimacy of Perfume Genius's Learning album, the songs on the EP, specifically Skiss 3, sound like they've been recorded on slightly battered instruments, using slightly muffled microphones that pick up any and every sound that surrounds the piano."
Out now: Skisser EP
Ben Khan
From: London
Label: Blessed Vice
What we said: "Following the same delivery as his previous releases, Savage comes complete with a fragmented delivery as it stutters its way along through electronic twists, horns and drums."
Out now: 1992 EP
Bipolar Sunshine
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From: Manchester
Label: Polydor/UMG
What we said: "He's a (deep breath) rapping, singing indie-rocker with a penchant for gospel, soul and pop kind of guy. A Mike Skinner/Damon Albarn hybrid."
Out now: Drowning Butterflies EP
Broods
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From: Auckland, New Zealand
Label: Polydor
What we said: "Broods' first EP, released last January, is an auspicious debut, with Georgia's breathy, emotive vocals floating over spacious synth chords and fractured beats."
Out now: Broods EP
Cathedrals
From: San Francisco, California
Label: Neon Gold
What we said: Nothing, yet. But Nylon magazine had this to say about single Want My Love: "With Brodie Jenkins' smooth, soulful vocals juxtaposed against the pair's signature electro-pop foundation, think of this as the nighttime component to the ideal summer evening (or let's be real, early morning)."
Out now: On single: Want My Love, Harlem and Unbound
Gorgon City
From: London
Label: Black Butter/Virgin EMI
What we said: "They base their sound around plaintive minor chords that are common in the new pop house scene."
Out now: Real EP, Ready for Your Love single
Fickle Friends
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From: Brighton
Label: Killing Moon
What we said: Not a peep, but according to Pitchfork: "it's tempting to hear Fickle Friends' Swim and think of summer, thanks to the disco-tinged strut of the Brighton quartet's first single thanks to a disco-tinged strut."
Out now: Swim, and single Play.
IYES
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From: Brighton
Label: Duly Noted
What we said: In Paul Lester's New Band column, he reckoned their single Lighthouse was "xx-y, spare and atmospheric, with his'n'hers vocals intertwining with the crackle of sexual intrigue, a slow-build approach that kept you listening till the end, and a climactic finale that suggested Arcade Fire in a prayer meet with Chvrches".
Out now: Single Breathe
Kwabs
From: London
Label: Atlantic
What we said: "Musically, Kwabs has one foot in the bass-drenched soul of Kwes and the other in the stage-school roots that nurtured him (he attended the Royal Academy of Music)."
Out now: Wrong or Right EP
Marika Hackman
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From: Hampshire
Label: Transgressive/Dirty Hit
What we said: Little, beyond this Guide listing. From the Music Ninja blog: "Often backed by psychedelic folk strumming, her sound uniquely goes against the grain of pop music, while still embracing a welcoming familiarity that allows the listener to connect in the same way they would with their favourite pop tunes."
Out now: Deaf Heat EP
Moon Boots
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From: He only names the US, though is apparently New York-based
Label: French Express
What we said: We've not covered him yet, but Consequence of Sound wrote that Whatever You Need "encapsulates Moon Boots’ style, favouring infectious and subtle grooves over flashy, sonic gimmicks".
Out now: Whatever You Need single
Oceaán
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From: Brussels, now Manchester-based
Label: Chess Club
What we said: "Oceaán knows how to make stunning music that will make you melt and want to float away."
Out now: Oceaán EP
Phoria
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From: Brighton
Label: X Novo
What we said: We haven't written about the band yet, but here's a view from Pigeons and Planes: "Despite having the look and size of a modern rock band, British five-piece Phoria certainly isn’t any such thing. Quite the opposite in fact, as Phoria catches one completely off guard, taking on a beautiful, soft spoken approach to their songs."
Out now: Display EP
Sales
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From: Orlando, Florida
Label: SALES/self-release
What we said: Not a word. But according to Le Sigh "the Orlando duo toes the line of folk, indie pop, lo-fi and minimalism and refuses to commit to one genre, which is part of SALES' intimate appeal."
Out now: Renee/Tonka Time 7in single
Seinabo Sey
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Label: Universal Music AB/Sweden Music
What we said: "As this initially straight-up soul-pop ballad unfolds, lingering organ notes give way to powerhouse vocals before producer Magnus Lidehäll shows his hand."
Out now: Younger and Hard Time singles
Tinashe
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From: Kentucky but grew up in LA
Label: RCA
What we said: We haven't covered Tinashe yet. In the words of Crack magazine: "The Kentucky-born, LA-raised Tinashe has been widely hailed as ‘R&B’s new princess’, or ‘R&B’s underground princess’; The Fader called her ‘Cali’s R&B princess’, and a widely circulated article from last year headlines ‘meet the new princess of R&B’."
Out now: Blackwater mixtape
Tove Lo
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Label: Universal Music AB
What we said: "Having written for the likes of Girls Aloud and fellow Swedes Icona Pop, as well as alongside pop overlord Max Martin, Lo certainly knows how to pen a chorus, but the songs she keeps for herself sidestep clever-clever pop nous or stomping EDM-fuelled bangers in favour of frank, sweary, mascara-smeared outpourings, taking the usual finesse of Swedish pop and swallowing it down with a whisky chaser."
Out now: Truth Serum EP
Yumi Zouma
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From: Paris, New York and Christchurch in New Zealand
Label: Cascine
What we said: "It's dreampop, only this time there is a good reason for them to be making hazy, drowsy music - it was often assembled in half-waking states after the demos arrived across conflicting time zones."
Out now: Yumi Zouma EP
Zella Day
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From: Pinetop, Arizona
Label: B3SCI
What we said: Nothing, as of yet. In Noisey's words, "the LA-based singer is signed to B3SCI, who love creating #songsofsummer, so we have high hopes for this one."
Out now: East of Eden, Sweet Ophelia and 1965, as singles
Zhu
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From: LA/San Francisco
Label: Mind of a Genius
What we said: We've not weighed in on Zhu, but Earmilk have: "[Faded] is heavy, blending italo disco, garage and ZHU's already signature liquid falsetto and cunningly manipulated vocal production into something completely unique."
Out now: The Nightday EP
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