Do you know any of these guys? I know George The Poet (A rapper, he is on the new Mandela album) and James Bay , a pretty good singer songwriter whose “Hold The River” is getting some traction, and some of the others. This is BBC’s list of bands they predict big things for in 2015, and they’ve been known to get it right.. BBC asked 140 influential music industry experts, DJs, critics, broadcasters and bloggers and, shock, only found one Stateside artist out of the 15 being touted.
Per gigwise, “Haim, Florence + The Machine, Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith, Adele” are among the names these guys have namechecked in the past.
George The Poet – Rapping with an English accent but not Tinie Tempeh at all – B
James Bay – Singer songwriter, delicate enough, from a small town in England. Sensitive, that’s the word – B
Kwabs – Soul guy, pretty hot with a major label contract – B+
Låpsley – This is new to me but for for long, gorgeous lo-fi plus beats, trust me you’ll love this kid – A-
Novelist – Heavy metalcore from Paris and better than that sounds, two voices, one bowels of hell, one rocker. Check out the Katy Perry cover if you can find it – B
Rae Morris – Piano Based ballads – B-
Raury – Ho hum folk soul – C+
Shamir – 20 year old dance hop guy from (ta dah) the US – B
Shura – Pretty mood music – B
Slaves – Punk holla – B
SOAK – “Be a Nobody” caught my attention earlier this year, love her voice on this lo-fi track – B+
Stormzy – Pretty good UK rapper – B
Sunset Sons – Ho hum moody rockers – C+
Wolf Alice – This is my pick of that lot, big time rock band and I’m sorry I haven’t caught up before, “Bros” is a great song – A-
Years & Years- Catchy snyth pop, quite good – B