As seen at Eurosonic Festival – click here to find out more.
Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
Back in 2010, I first wrote about a British-Zimbabwean indie-pop artist signed to Island called Tinashé Fazakerley, known simply as Tinashé. I saw him live, enjoyed his album (you can see a few videos here), and spent the past few years wondering where he’d gone. Perhaps because the album didn’t perform well, or because a female artist was much more successful under the same name (minus the accent), he has now returned as Rationale. Signed to Bastille’s label Best Laid Plans and Warner Bros, his new music is going down very well on Hype Machine and Spotify (Fast Lane reached no.2 on their global viral chart). He was a big draw at Eurosonic with a packed venue and queues outside. In his time away, Tinashé has developed a darker, more electronic sound, but his songwriting and performance skills remain in tact. The only change is that he now sounds more like Cher than Tracy Chapman. The standout track for me is his catchy set-closer, Fuel To The Fire. His debut album may not have connected, but as a very interesting, talented artist, he’s well-deserving of a second chance.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHs6O6jC7Y8]