NEW MUSIC: Salt Ashes - Somebody

22 year old Salt Ashes from Brighton, UK, manages to walk the fine line between hipster and just-good-fun pop music with ease. Her debut single "Somebody" sounds like Robyn and the Scissor Sisters engaged in a dance off as Goldfrapp sits aloof in the judges' chair. The track has a pulsating synthpop groove and Salt Ashes' vocal floats in a giddy falsetto before diving into sultry lower range, bringing to mind Alison Goldfrapp.

The "Somebody" EP is out now on iTunes.

FOR FANS OF: Goldfrapp, Robyn, Scissor Sisters

- Joe Copplestone, 25.02.14

NEW MUSIC: Allie X - Catch

Canadian electropop singer Allie X has a corker of a debut single. "Catch" is the best song CHVRCHES never wrote, with a contorted Charli XCX-esque melody and biting chorus. There is always space for more mid-tempo electropop singers for UK bloggers to rave about and to give semi-crowded gigs to 17 year old girls and 27 year old gay men at XOYO in Shoreditch, so let's see what you got next, Ms X!

FOR FANS OF: CHVRCHES, Charli XCX, Say Lou Lou

- Joe Copplestone, 18.02.14

NEW MUSIC: Betty Who - Heartbreak Dream

Betty Who's formula for the perfect pop song lies somewhere between the sugary sweet teeny pop of Katy Perry and the bittersweet outsider-anthems of Robyn. But her secret ingredient, what makes her music so uplifting and life affirming, is something neither Katy or Robyn can quite grasp: Actual FAITH in love.

Katy Perry's view of love is 2 dimensional and idealistic. Of course, it has to be; this is stuff marketed at 13 year old girls who just want to hear that love is black and white: you fall in love, it's the best thing ever, and it you break up, it's sad, but you find someone else and all is well again. Robyn's view is much more complex, but definitely borders on cynical. Her songs advise going into every relationship with your past pain fresh in your mind, and are quick to warn that love is nothing if not painful.

Betty Who is 21, 8 years younger than Katy perry and 13 years younger than Robyn, yet she sounds like the only one of the three who sounds like they truly understand love. "Somebody Loves You" was her very own dictionary definition, "All Of You" is about surviving the tough times, and "Heartbreak Dream" is about not surviving them. Peter Thomas's production is utterly heartwrenching and euphoric as always, a glorious cacophony of clattering drums and ricocheting synths, and Betty Who's lyrics, though tragic, are sung triumphantly as if with strength and experience. Most of all, they are sung with the faith that there light at the end of the tunnel. 

And that's what makes Betty the true torch bearer for love in pop music 2014 - Katy ignored the problems, Robyn dwelled on them, but Betty allows them to make her strong. This would be almost unbearably beautiful as a ballad by the way Betty, just saying.

FOR FANS OF: Robyn, Katy Perry, Haim

- Joe Copplestone, 18.02.14

NEW MUSIC: Clean Bandit - Heart On Fire

If any group of music fans could possibly throw any criticism the way of "Rather Be", the spectacularly uplifting piano pop single by Clean Bandit, now in its fourth consecutive week at #1 in the UK charts, then it's the ravers. It was the chirpy All About She garage mix that made it onto many a pre drinking playlist, whilst the tame original stayed good friends with daytime radio.

The group's speedily delivered new single "Heart On Fire" is quick to meet the demands placed heavily upon them. "Heart on Fire" is a garage-tastic Artful Dodger tribute at a tempo not dissimilar to high energy J-pop. The infectious and unadulterated joy running through the track's veins is fast becoming a Clean Bandit speciality, as are the light as a feather keys and distinctive string quartet flourishes. Elisabeth Troy does an admirable job of living up to Jess Glynne's vocal benchmark, delivering a juggernaut chorus that makes "Rather Be" seem like child's play.

FOR FANS OF: Artful Dodger, All About She, Gorgon City

- Joe Copplestone, 18.02.14

NEW MUSIC: Shura - Touch

After lending her light-as-a-feather whispers to London producer Hiatus's atmospheric post dubstep soundscapes, Shura's emotional identity thus far has been hidden behind cryptic musings on life and love. The South London singer's debut single "Touch" shows an altogether more down to earth and human side of her.

Warm pads and comforting R&B beats carry a gorgeous and affecting vocal, as Shura admits "something's changed and I don't know why". The simplicity of the message in "Touch" is a far cry from Hiatus collaborations such as "We Can Be Ghosts Now". Her musings are now worn on her sleeve, heartfelt and honest; "I wanna touch you but there's history, I can't believe that it's been three years" she later murmurs. Her voice, once mysterious and icy, now betrays a vulnerability and a racing heartbeat.

Follow Shura on SoundCloud below.

FOR FANS OF: BANKS, Haim, Jessie Ware

- Joe Copplestone, 11.04.14

NEW MUSIC: Rubee Rayne - Breathe

Rubee Rayne is an anomaly. To look at her tough-nut Brixton image (the girl's from Berkshire btw) you'd picture another Amplify Dot or Ms Dynamite - and there'd be nothing wrong with that. But new single "Breathe" is a pleasant surprise. It's less UK grime, and more US post-R&B, with Rayne's woozy slurred vocals and the lazy ambient synths on "Breathe" (courtesy of quirky UK producer El-Train) coming across like "Take-Care" era Drake. 

Rubee Rayne has 3 hypnotic gems available for free download on her SoundCloud, which you should snap up soon before "Breathe" finds itself A-listed on Radio 1.

FOR FANS OF: Jhene Aiko, Banks, FKA Twigs

- Joe Copplestone, 6.2.14

NEW MUSIC: Shift K3y - Touch

If the sudden success of Clean Bandit's "Rather Be" in the UK is anything to go by, then "Touch", the mindblowingly catchy new single by previously musically ambiguous producer Shift K3Y, could well be the next step in a full on garage takeover in 2014. 

The garage revival has been gradually working its way through the dance underground's deep house obsession of 2013, but most of it has been afraid to place a toe firmly in the late 90s/early 00s nostalgia pool, the majority opting to follow in Disclosure's footsteps and offer flavours of garage without recalling too much of this shamelessly cheesy period in music. 

Why "Touch" works is that it brings back everything that was good about garage in the first place, including the features that Disclosure et al have been too credible to - the sugary sweet male vocal, gloriously sung by the producer himself (a fact which makes me very happy indeed), a 130+ bpm, and a set of simplistic, hollow yet instantly memorable lyrics, which accompany a melody so catchy that their vacuousness can be forgiven, celebrated even. 

If Clean Bandit turned back the clock to the sunkissed post-garage/chilled-house days of 2002/3, Shift K3y has bravely turned the hands even further back to 1999, channelling the spirit of Artful Dodger. Need another reason why this is so great? This was a time when unknown producers and acts would top the charts out of the blue, purely because of a shamelessly catchy tune, so please let's see "Touch" become the second breakthrough #1 of the year and let's see some hard work pay off.

FOR FANS OF: Artful Dodger, Kove, DEVolution

- Joe Copplestone, 3.2.14