NEW MUSIC: Andy Lovelee - Love You Today

The UK and indeed the international music scene is missing an androgynous alt-pop star, and the spine-tinglingly voiced Aussie Andy Lovelee could be the one to hold that tragic flame. Gothic-tinged debut single "Love You Today" for any other male singer would be the wrong side of depressing, but Lovelee's irresistibly sexy croon floats suggestively between full voice and falsetto over shimmering guitars and shuddering beats that Hurts would jump upon, injecting the epic melody with a convincing and striking performance.

Lovelee is very much up and coming, so make sure you support him by following his SoundCloud below.

FOR FANS OF: Hurts, MS MR, Active Child

- Joe Copplestone, 13.1.14

MØ - Waste of Time

Danish alternative pop singer MØ, real name Karen Marie Ørsted, showcases a defiant anti-glamourous image in her videos, and an assured emotional rawness in her music. This endearing lack of pretense makes it much easier to see past the 'front' other artists might put up, and see the distinct personality from MØ herself. 

MØ's lyrics and voice are gritty and turbulent, much like her music, which is a crisp yet organic sounding mesh of alternative R&B and electropop favoured by her peers MS MR, the most obvious initial comparison. Arresting vocal stabs punctuate the industrial-flecked verse, and an unusual chorus melody is made memorable by MØ's delirious vocal. In a European alt-pop scene fairly saturated with indie female singers in this field, MØ looks like a keeper.

FOR FANS OF: MS MR, Charli XCX, Purity Ring

Kate Boy - The Way We Are

In the wake of a distinctly difficult new The Knife album, it's good to know that there are plenty of Swedes on their tail that still want to make a good old fashioned quirky pop song. A defiant, percussive Niki & The Dove-esque march drives the track, and the chorus is anthemic in a way that many Swedes shy away from. As Kate Boy themselves cry out in the song "it's just the way we are!" and let's hope this USP helps their rise and rise out of the shadow of their Swedish pop god predecessors and peers.

FOR FANS OF: The Knife, Niki & The Dove, MS MR

MS MR - Hurricane (CHVRCHES Remix)

MS MR are one of the more subtle female fronted bands of the last couple of years, choosing a Florence-esque majesty over the all out synth onslaught of acts like CHVRCHES and Charli XCX. But every subtle song has an unexplored jubilant side, and the brilliant CHVRCHES smother "Hurricane" with 80s new wave electro, right down to its ridiculously authentic sampled snare drum. Whilst MS MR only predicted an oncoming storm in their original song, CHVRCHES bring the 80s synthpop tremors with panache.

FOR FANS OF: Hot Chip, Passion Pit, CHVRCHES (obviously)