Sophie Jamieson

You can’t help but marvel at the waif like Sophie Jamieson’s ability to write such graceful music led by that deceptive spine tingling and on occasion eidolic vocal. For hers is a voice that drips with emotion and authenticity. You would never label her music ‘upbeat’ and it certainly isn’t going to provide the soundtrack to your gym workout any time soon but whilst ‘hauntingly beautiful’ is perhaps one of the most overused terms in music it is entirely correct in this case. The latest track from Sophie,’Take’ which is from her forthcoming EP manages to sound striped back without being skeletal and although her vocal sounds like a delicate whisper being carried on the wind, or ghostly breath on a frosted window it also manages to pack a huge emotional punch. We certainly hope 2015 proves to be a pivotal year for Sophie who continues to impress with a delicacy and maturity that older, far more experienced songwriters rarely get close to.

Heavy Heart – Shell

We featured Heavy Heart a few weeks back on both the site and podcast and they return armed with a shiny new and hugely impressive debut EP.  And it’s an EP in which they confidently unlock their potential to showcase songs that shine with a subtle but heartfelt poignancy.

 I Am The Mountain

We don’t normally feature too many covers, but this, this we really enjoyed, adored in fact!  It takes the Stone Roses classic extracts the swaggering narcissism, and turns up the melancholy.  It also has the added bonus of no Ian Brown, a singer who was once memorably described as ‘honking like a despondent goose.’  On occasion, the Roses certainly did write some beauties, although we do feel their legend was always massively overstated, as many who saw them live back in their early days will surely attest – Back then you could often barely hear their tinny racket for cries of…  ‘Play one the drummer knows!’

Anyhow word is I Am The Mountain is the temporary name for Liverpool band Bird… who it seems will not be performing as Bird in future. Confused?  Yes, so are we.. we can only hope it’s a name issue and nothing more sinister. It appears Bird is no longer the word.

 Tara Priya – One Foot Out

San Francisco born Tara Priya has recently relocated to London after building up a head of steam over in LA. ‘One Foot Out’ opens with chiming Morricone style guitars before fusing neo soul and trip hop into a sophisticated musical cocktail. Of course, it’s the voice that really makes this track stand out and there will be the inevitable Amy  comparisons and although Tara’s vocal lacks that edgy whiskey and fags rasp , such comparisons are not entirely wide of the mark.  It’s as smooth as a freshly buttered banister, but not in anyway soulless.  …. We like.

 Victories at Sea

When this track starts, for the briefest of moments you may recoil for fear you are about to plunge headfirst down a rather fey, ever so slightly self satisfied Dutch Uncles style musical rabbit hole. Thankfully Birmingham’s Victories At Sea eschew veering off into mammoth, self indulgent glockenspiel-led electro-funkathons and instead produce a stylish savvy slice of electro- pop.

Pretty Sad – Never Falling

‘Never Falling’ is from Pretty Sad’s debut EP released by Shelflife Records. The band who are scattered throughout Europe (Scotland, Denmark and the UK) seem to incredibly young but are a modern band in the truest sense of the word. Utilising digital technology, and the ability to communicate in real time across continents the band collaborate using the likes of Garageband and Dropbox. That’s where they share and flesh out their musical ideas, and the results are astonishingly polished. Their EP contains a fine a selection of bittersweet pop songs, and we hear a debut album is on the horizon.