Digital Shuffle

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Angie McMahon

Angie McMahon is a singer-songwriter and musician from Melbourne. She is already making waves in Australia after supporting artists like Alanis Morissette and The Shins

Angie has a deep, powerful voice and, as demonstrated in her single ‘Pasta’, a unique songwriting style. She describes her sound as constantly evolving, tapping into different genres such as alt-folk, blues and rock. Her influences include Alabama Shakes, Joni Michell and Tom Waits.

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Ones to Watch 2017: SOFI TUKKER

SOFI TUKKER is a New York based dance duo, consisting of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern. Their different influences and musical knowledge have been blended perfectly to create the fun, thrilling carnival anthems. Listen to their excellent debut EP ‘Soft Animals’, released last summer, and you can’t help but move your feet throughout.

Songs such as ‘Drinkee’ and ‘Awoo’ (featuring Betta Lemme) are ridiculously addictive and, as with their music videos, their live performances are just so cool with stunning outfits and choreographed dance moves. One of the most exciting acts of 2016 and I can’t wait to hear more from them in 2017.

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Ones to Watch 2017: Off Bloom

Copenhagen-based trio Off Bloom, is an experimental pop band whose debut EP included one of my favourite tracks of 2016 - 'Love To Hate It'. The EP title track ‘Love To Hate It’ describes how being knocked back can make you feel even more passion for that particular person. The song is a rollercoaster of swooning synth melodies and moody, throbbing basslines, complimented perfectly by lead singer Mette’s gorgeous vocals.

The fact that Off Bloom have attracted big names such as Two Inch Punch and Aluna George’s George Reid to work on their first EP demonstrates their status as rapidly emerging stars and it will be exciting to hear more from the Danish trio in 2017.

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Ones to Watch 2017: MOSES

I first heard about London-based fiery rock n’ roll band MOSES on Radio 1 as one of Annie Mac’s New Names for October 2016. I have had their debut track ‘Leave Leave Leave’ on repeat ever since.

The four-piece Britpop band only formed in 2015, but have already gained a strong following on the London gig circuit, have supported Jimmy Eat World, Ash and The Enemy and finished 2016 headlining at London’s KOKO.

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Ones to Watch 2017: Middle Kids

Sydney-based indie-pop band Middle Kids is made up of Hannah Joy, Tim Fitz, and Harry Day. The trio released their impressive debut single ‘Edge of Town’ in May and followed it up in August with the beautiful and raw track ‘Your Love’. Joy’s vocals are particularly gorgeous on the latter.

This emerging Aussie band are already lined up for a big US tour in 2017 with an appearance at SXSW in Austin, Texas and will be at Brighton’s Great Escape Festival in May, where hopefully I can catch them live.

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Ones to Watch 2017: Maggie Rogers

Maggie Rogers had her breakthrough moment on 1 June 2016 when Pharrell Williams, hosting a masterclass session at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute, was evidently blown away when he heard Maggie’s song ‘Alaska’. The video clip capturing that moment quickly went viral. ‘Alaska’ has now had over 22 million plays on Spotify, and Maggie has since signed with major label Capitol Records.

As Pharrell highlighted in his review of ‘Alaska’, Maggie’s sound is truly authentic and comes as a result of mixing her rural, folk music roots and her new love and understanding of dance music. Maggie’s vocals are also mesmerizingly beautiful, as also demonstrated on her new single ‘Dog Years’.

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Ones to Watch 2017: Kiara Nelson

I don’t know a huge amount about Kiara Nelson, an 18-year-old Finnish-Swedish-American singer currently living in Helsinki, who released her debut single ‘Cool My Rush’ last summer. What I do know though is that ‘Cool My Rush’ and her most recent single ‘Bulletproof’, released in December, are stunning evidence that Kiara is a electro-pop sensation in the making and I can't wait to hear more of her powerful vocals and badass vibes in 2017.

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Ones to Watch 2017: Be Charlotte

Scottish three-piece Be Charlotte is the creation of 19-year-old songstress Charlotte Brimner, who has been developing her own innovative brand of catchy indie-pop. Their songs are a perfect blend of Charlotte’s intelligent songwriting and a modern, unique sound that is produced using digital technologies, traditional instruments and Charlotte’s own vocal input (including spoken word, rap, beatboxing and beautiful vocals).

Be Charlotte won Best Electronic Act at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards in October and their new single ‘One Drop’, premiered on Radio 1 early last month, has had over 160,000 plays on Spotify ahead of its official release on 20 January.

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Ones to Watch 2017: ALMA

Twenty-year-old Finnish artist ALMA (Alma-Sofia Miettinen) is a truly unique singer-songwriter, whose exceptional debut single ‘Karma’, released last summer, has had over 19 million plays on Spotify. ALMA released her debut EP ‘Dye My Hair’ in October, with the title track also becoming a huge hit. The EP also includes an acoustic version of ‘Dye My Hair’, which really shows off ALMA’s stunning voice. I can't wait to hear more from the Finnish pop sensation in 2017!

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Listen: Anna of the North - Us

Scandipop duo Anna of the North have dropped their new single 'Us' this week and it is pure nectar. Norwegian singer Anna Lotterund and New Zealand producer Brady have worked together over the last few years to create heart melting dream-pop to great effect with tracks such as 'Baby' and 'The Dreamer' each accumulating over 600k plays on their Soundcloud, but I would argue that 'Us' is the best yet from Anna of the North.

In an interview with i-D Magazine, Anna described 'Us' as about "a relationship between two people with a really strong connection. When it's so good it's bad for you. All of us have had that special person you'll never forget, where the timing wasn't quite right".

Listen to 'Us' below and catch Anna of the North live in London on 20 September at The Lexington.

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Listen: George Cosby - Juliet

I'm very excited to see that London-based singer-songwriter George Cosby is due to release his new EP 'A Savage Kiss' on 14 October, a follow up to his stunning 2015 debut 'Human Touch'. 'Vacant Grace' in particular was one of my favourite songs of 2015.

Ahead of his second EP release, the rising dark-pop songwriter has debuted 'Juliet', a stirring soulful anthem packed with raw emotion, power chords and George's unique, booming vocals as he describes the disintegration of a relationship and the feelings of desperation that follow.

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Listen: Chløë Black - Death Proof

Chløë Black released her dark, soulful debut single '27 Club' in October 2014, in which Chloe pays homage to some of her heroes who lost their lives at that age while examining whether with such greatness also comes pain. Following a couple of other excellent releases, including her cover of Kanye West's 'Runaway', dark-pop sensation Chløë returns with red-hot anthem 'Death Proof' a song about the beauty of teenage risk-taking and recklessness as she declares 'let's do it cos we're fucked up anyway, feeling like there's nothing left to lose'. It really is brilliant and so catchy!

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TGE16 Recommendations: Saturday 21 May

12.30pm - The Big Moon (Venue: Komedia) London-based indie-pop quartet

1.30pm - Mahalia (Spiegeltent) Leicester-born singer-songwriter

2.00pm - Glass (Brighthelm) London-based electro/piano pop duo

3.30pm - ARY (Patterns Upstairs) Norwegian singer and multi-instrumentalist

4.30pm - Jones (Wagner Hall) London-based soul singer

7.00pm - Muna (Coalition) Dark-pop girl band from Los Angeles

8.00pm - Ardyn (Coalition) Dark-pop duo from Gloucestershire

9.00pm - LISS (Coalition) Nordic soul band from Aarhus, Denmark

11.30pm - Ekkah (The Synergy Centre) Funky disco-pop duo

12.45am - Milk & Bone (Komedia Studio Bar) Electro-pop duo from Canada

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TGE16 Recommendations: Friday 20 May

12.15pm - Saint Sister (Venue: Prince Albert) 'Atmosfolk' duo from Ireland

1.00pm - Xylaroo (The Pop-Up Stage) Acoustic-country-folk-pop duo

2.30pm - Ciaran Lavery (Spiegeltent) Acoustic singer-songwriter from County Antrim

3.30pm - Amber Arcades (Komedia) Dutch artist producing dreamy folk ballads

5.30pm - Seramic (Patterns) London-based electronic soul artist

7.00pm - Alice Jemima (Jubilee Gardens) Pop singer-songwriter and producer from Devon

8.00pm - Rukhsana Merrise (Komedia) Singer-songwriter from West London and one of my 'Ones to Watch' for 2016

9.30pm - Lady Leshurr (Patterns) Singer, rapper and producer from Birmingham

10.00pm - Saltwater Sun (The Mucky Duck) Melodic indie rock band from London

11.30pm - Julia Jacklin (The Haunt) Singer-songwriter from Sydney

12.30am - Frankie Cosmos (The Haunt) 4-piece band from New York

1.00am - Let's Eat Grandma (Latest Music Bar) Experimental duo from Norwich

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TGE16 Recommendations: Thursday 19 May

12.15pm - Vallis Alps (Venue: Komedia) Sydney-based electronic duo

12.55pm - Chiara Hunter (Komedia) Future Funk singer-songwriter

1.35pm - Slum Sociable (Komedia) Lo-fo jazz hop duo from Melbourne

2.10pm - Dreller (Komedia Studio Bar) A multi-instrumentalist, animator and film maker based in London

3.00pm - Anna of the North (Horatios) Scandi dream-pop singer

4.30pm - Mabel (Wagner Hall) Modern R&B soul singer

6.30pm - Isaac Gracie (Unitarian Church) Folky acoustic guitarist and one of my 'Ones to Watch' for 2016

7.15pm - Bo Rocha (Komedia) London-based pop vocalist and producer

8.00pm - DAGNY (Komedia) Norwegian pop songstress and one of my 'Ones to Watch' for 2016

9.30pm - Cloves (Brighthelm) Singer-songwriter from Melbourne

11.00pm - Highasakite (Komedia) Indie-rock band from Norway

12.15am - Postiljonen (Komedia) Dream-pop band from Stockholm

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The Great Escape Festival: Preview & Recommendations

In less than a week The Great Escape Festival kicks off in the beautiful seaside city of Brighton, with 3 magical days of sun (here's hoping!), sea and new music!

What I love about this festival is that it always promises a diverse offering of music styles and artists from all over the world with over 400 up and coming artists performing in 35 venues across the city. Some of my most memorable live music experiences have been at TGE - MØ giving it everything on a tiny stage in a hotel basement, Siv Jakobsen covering Britney's 'Toxic' in a tiny pub and Flo Morrissey mesmerising a packed crowd in a beautiful church to name just a few of my highlights at TGE so far.

With so many amazing artists performing at TGE across the different venues, it helps to have a plan to avoid clashes. I've now produced my choices for this year's festival and you can look at my recommendations by clicking on the hyperlinks here: Thursday 19th, Friday 20th and Saturday 21st.

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Introducing: Masasolo

With a blend of dreamy vocals, tender guitar riffs and subtle synth layers, the laidback feel of psych-rock band Masasolo's debut single ‘Really Thought She Loved Me’ makes it a great soundtrack for the perfect daydream.

The Copenhagen-based band are set to release their first EP later this year and I can't wait to hear more of their chilled psychedelic sound.