The biggest male singers of 2015 were Canadian, but there hasn’t been a big female artist from the land of maple syrup and lakes since the days of Nelly and Avril. That may be about to change as Alessia Cara goes into 2016 hotly tipped for success, with a US top 10 hit under her belt.
The accessibly edgy single Here has helped Alessia to build a strong teen fanbase, while still keeping the more mature music press on side. Although it made a big impact online immediately on release, Here has grown slowly over 7 months to become a commercial hit, and brought opportunities from performing with Taylor Swift to appearing on Later… with Jools Holland. With its rebellious yet relatable message, it’s certainly this year’s Royals. It hasn’t yet had its moment in the UK, but I’m hoping Alessia’s US success and her appearance in the BBC Sound of 2016 list will encourage Virgin EMI to give Here another push early in the new year. This song cannot peak at no. 144!
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKp2CrfmVfw]
This year Alessia released an EP, Four Pink Walls, which confirmed her pop star potential, as it’s filled with poptastic tunes. I’m Yours shows the opposite side of her personality to Here, as it’s adorably sincere and uplifting. This side of 19-year-old Alessia was on full show at the London gig I attended in September. Her album Know-It-All was released in the US last month, and unfortunately it’s not as consistent, and lacks songs that will appeal to older fans in the same way as Here. However, if one dark, angsty song ends up being a trojan horse to bring us a sweet, happy pop star with great talent and likeability, I’m fine with that.
Click here to find out more about This Must Be Pop’s Stars of 2016 and come back on 18th December to vote for the artists you think, and hope, will be the biggest stars of 2016. The results will be announced in the Future Pop mailer on 4th January.