Introducing an Artist: Tom Grennan

In this post I want to introduce you to one of my newer discoveries: British Aritst Tom Grennan.
This is my early christmas present to you, so I hope you enjoy! ;)

http://www.nuitmagazine.com/mag/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Andrea-Vecchiato7.jpg

With just over 20,000 fans on facebook, he's still undiscovered. But I can assure you, that he won't stay unknown for long! In my eyes, there's no doubt that he will very fast be a popular upcoming talent. You wanna know why?
First of all, his music has something very refreshing. It's nothing that you feel like you've heard before, his music is very special indie pop but yet all of his songs are real earwigs and are very easy to get into.
Most of the songs from his -so far- 3 EPs are guitar-based and have a very strong melodic guitar to underline his wonderful singing. Tom Grennan, who sings with an authentic and very nice britisch accent, was blessed with a very unique, husky voice which is in no way unpleasent but makes his music even more interesting! It fits perfectly to the raw stories he tells in his songs through some great and personal lyrics.
Thus, all of his songs have a high potential to be the next big hit. It was also a very hard decision which video to link below because I love all of his songs dearly and I coulnd't decide which one was best to introduce him to you.
On March, 9th next year, the 21-year-old will release his debut album "Lighting Matches" via the british record label "Insanity Records". It looks like 2018 is going to be a promising year in the music industry ;) I definitely can't wait for the release and the upcoming tour!
Tom was currently touring Europe and is heading to America next. You can find his tour dates on his page http://www.tomgrennanmusic.com/.

Below you can find his social media links and watch the video to his song "Praying", which was released on his second EP "Release the Brakes" in March this year. I hope you Enjoy!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAwzP095AeA

Spotify
Youtube
Soundcloud

Introducing a band: City of the Sun

 

https://www.billboard.com/files/media/City-of-The-Sun-Press-Photo-2016-billboard-1548.jpg 

Today I want to talk about one of my favourite bands "City of the Sun".
City of the Sun is a trio from New York, consisting of the two guitarists John Pita and Avi Snow and the percussionist Zach Para.
Their music is completely instrumental which I love. The trio is able to create such a magic atmosphere and convey a story solely through their instrumental music. When you listen to one of their songs you really get emotionally and mentally drawn into their music.

The band was touring this year but since I was in Australia at that time, I sadly missed their concert in Berlin. But since they started their musical journey with busking on the streets of New York, they know how to catch and keep the attention of people walking by. Therefore I imagine their live shows to be very captivating and unique (as you can already imagine when watching one of their live videos).
So if you get the chance to see them play you should definitely go! Their next show will be on February, 23rd 2018 in Brookly, New York.
You can check out their tour dates here.

Their debut album "To the sun and all the cities in between" was released in March 2016 via the American record label "Chesky Records".
Their Album is a mixed genre piece with 13 brilliant songs on it. City of the Sun are best described as an indie-post rock trio, but they don't really fit into one specific genre since they are inspired by many different ones, such as jazz, rock and flamenco. This is one aspect which makes their music so special.

Below you can watch a live video from their "Sofar Session" in New York, covering "Intro" by the XX and find the links to their youtube, soundcloud and spotify accounts.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIdKbSeAueY 

 

Yotube: https://www.youtube.com/user/cityofthesunTV
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4DkYxtaASIKQnk4Gj0TB7k
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cityofthesun

Album of the Year: "Broken Machine" by Nothing but Thieves

Since the Year is slowly coming to an end, I thought I would look back on the newly released albums in 2017 and pick my favourite for this year.
And the winner is the second studio album of one of my favourite bands: "Broken Machine" by Nothing but Thieves. The Album was released on September, 8th this year via the American record label "RCA Records".

https://www.reddit.com/r/NothingButThieves/comments/6ns9ut/broken_machine_album_covers_standard_and_deluxe/

Nothing but Thieves are a five-member alternative rock band from England that formed in 2012. I was already a big fan of their debut album "Nothing but Thieves" which was released on October, 16th 2015. But compared to their debut album, I feel like "Broken Machine" feels more like an album. On "Nothing but Thieves" the songs stand more on their own whereas the songs on "Broken Machine" are harmonically conected with each other. Don't get me wrong, the songs on the album are all very strong and can easily stand for their own. I just feel like the harmony between the songs is stronger and thus makes it more to a coherent whole.

On the deluxe version of the album are 15 songs. The first 7 songs are very dynamic songs and all have the potential to be a hit single. No wonder the pre publicized singles of the album were songs number 2, 3 and 7: "Amsterdam", "Sorry" and "Not made by Design".
The second half is more quiet and not as easy to get into, but after listening to the songs a few times and finding access to them, you'll notice that they are just as strong as the first half just in a more unique and noncommercial way. This is also great because -at least that's what I felt like- every time you listen to the album, you discover a new song that you love.
Therefore I can say that the album is overall very strong and processes important, political and self-reflecting topics with catchy and some very special lyrics.

If you haven't heard "Broken Machine" yet, you should definitely check it out because it truely is a great album and I see the next big alternative rock band in Nothing but Thieves. With their catchy and yet serious and unique music, they have a high chance of becoming very successful. Especially because they are also a very strong live band and have broadened their fan base by playing on several festivals this summer. They have just toured the US and Canada and are currently touring in Europe. You can find their tour dates here.

At least to me, Nothing but Thieves are already a very important band and their album "Broken Machine" is definitely my favourite album of the year 2017.


Below you can find the links to their youtube, spotify and soundcloud:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/NothingButThieves
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1kDGbuxWknIKx4FlgWxiSp
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/nothingbutthieves

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Album review: "Revival" by Vancouver Sleep Clinic

Another gem that I was dying to introduce to you is the Brisbane-based five-member band "Vancouver Sleep Clinic".
On Friday, April 7th, they finally released their long awaited debut album "Revival". In contrast to the prior released EPs, "Revival" is a collection of more uptempo songs. But nevertheless, the band manages to bring across the same emotions as before and remained true to it's original, atmospheric sound.
If you don't know the band, I think their sound is best described as more quiet, ambient and electronic music. Their music is a mixture of different genres and therefor reminds of totally different artists, such as "Bon Iver", "James Blake" or some songs by "Bastille". So if you like any of these or similar artists you should definitely give Vancouver Sleep Clinic a listen.
To me, their music is something very special and touching.

There are eleven songs on the album of which four had been released as singles prior to the album. These four singles are "Lung", "Killing me to love you", "Someone to Stay" and one of my favourite songs from the album "Unworthy".
In my opinion there are many strong songs on the album that have the opportunity to be the band's breakthrough, for example the more uptempo songs "Whispers", "Killing me to love you" and "Empire" but also some quiet songs like "Unworthy" and "Sleeping World". 
I feel like the music puts you in a state of a calm mind where you can worrilessly think about life or even not think at all.
With a good mixture of uptempo and slower songs, some beautiful lyrics and a just as beautiful artwork for the album cover, I think Vancouver Sleep Clinic managed to create a very beautiful and convincing debut album that shows a development of the band but still reflects the band's earlier songs.

You can find the album on itunes and spotify. Let me know what you think of it!

Below you can check out the album cover and the band's tour dates for North America in May:

Song of the Month: 'Jungle' by Tash Sultana

This month I want to introduce one of my favourite songs to you. The song I'm referring to is 'Jungle' by upcoming Australian artist 'Tash Sultana'. The song is taken from her 'Notion' EP which is overall an amazing piece of art. All of the songs are guitar based, atmospheric, quiet songs and aren't comparable with anything I've heard before. The song 'Jungle' has a pretty long guitar intro and has a touch of reggae to it.
Especially when you get to know that 21-year-old Tash Sultana taught every instrument herself, her gutar skills seem even more terrific.
Her vocals are also very remakable since she has a very unique and strong voice. In some of her songs, Tash even beatboxes. So you see that she is very open-minded and eager to try new things when it comes to her music. And I think that's overall what makes her music so special.
Additionally, she accompanies her instrumental music with wonderful and very meaningful lyrics. When you listen to her words closely, you hear that Melbourne-based artist Tash has a lot of life experience in her young age already. But nevertheless, the lyrics don't weigh heavily on the otherwise blithe music but are able to create a dreamy atmosphere together.

I would definitely recommend to you checking her out! In my eyes, she is a musical genius. While she is not well-known outside of Australia yet, her fancount within Australia is steadily rising. So if you want to be one of the first people in your country to fall in love with her music, watch the following video:

 'Jungle' by Tash Sultana

Introducing a Band: Ry X

The Australian singer-songwriter Ry X has been my favorite musician for a really long time. I didn't post anything about him yet, because his music is very dear to my heart and I wanted to keep it to myself. But for the new year I decided to share his amazing music with you guys. Ry X's music is best described as reduced, atmospheric, experimental guitar or indietronic music.

In May 2016, Ry X published his debut album 'Dawn' via the swedish record label 'Dumont Dumont'. In my opinion, 'Dawn' was definitely one of the best if not even THE best album in 2016. Every song on the album and Ry X's prior EP 'Berlin' is very soulful and has very deep and meaningful lyrics that you can completely get lost in thought over.
 

Ry X' soft and very special voice creates a magic and intimate atmosphere around the words he's singing. Along with the atmospheric instrumental music that's quite different in every song of the album, Ry X manages to produce very unique music that can truely be called art.

Ry X is also part of the electonic groups 'The Howling' together with Frank Wiedemann from the German electronic duo 'Âme' ; and 'The Acid' along with Adam Freeland and Steve Nalepa.
I'm also a big fan of those two projects but they are only focused on electronic music whereas Ry X's music is a mixture of different genres.

Below you can find the youtube video to his indietronic song 'Haste'. Enjoy!

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI1sQtRmIJU

 

Ry X is currently touring Australia and will play in Berlin on April, 8th together with a german orchestra.
You can find his music on youtube, soundcloud, itunes and spotify.
Since Ry X is my favorite musician, I'd be interested to know what you think of his music so feel free to leave a comment :)