Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
Sälen’s new single Diseasey stood out to me immediately when I heard it in a Spotify playlist last week, because of its frankly bizarre lyrics (even more weird is the fact that it wasn’t even the only new song about rotting teeth I heard last week). Not only are Sälen’s lyrics unique, but their sound is also very fresh and interesting. It’s indie-pop which feels equally edgy and commercial, fitting somewhere between Wolf Alice and Kiiara. They’re already getting a great response, with a Spotify viral UK no.1 and global no.8. Sälen are a London-based trio made up of lead singer Ellie Kamio and musicians Paul Taylor Wale and Simon Milner (also of Is Tropical). Although they aren’t signed to a major label (or haven’t announced it, if they are) they won’t struggle for connections and exposure as they’re represented by Machine Management. This is the team who successfully launched Years & Years, and subsequently added artists such as Clean Bandit and AlunaGeorge to their roster – all acts who managed to translate what could have been a niche sound into something more mainstream, and achieve chart success. With this in mind, I’m excited to see how Sälen proceed, and hope we won’t have to wait too long to hear their pitch for a crossover hit.
https://soundcloud.com/i-d-online-1/premiere-salen-diseasey