Rox
She may be the latest “new Amy Winehouse”, but she’s got a bit more claim to the name than most, since she has stood in for Amy in live performances of Valerie, and worked with Mark Ronson on her forthcoming album. She’s also worked with Nitin Sawhney, whose new single she appears on. I think Rox has a pretty good chance of success, at least with album sales, because she has a great voice and her songs are very consistent in quality. My Baby Left Me was pointed out by Fluxblog as a stand-out track, and it probably will make a good single, but I think Left Over Love is brilliant too, a typical Ronson track. The rest are all enjoyable as well, especially if, like me, you were brought up on Motown greatest hits tapes, because she’s totally got the girly pizazz of acts like the Supremes and Vandellas. On the other hand, those who like Estelle should also give Rox a listen.
Hit potential: 81% Poptasticness: 79%
Rod Thomas
If you like Duke Special and Guillemots, then you’d better go and listen to Rod Thomas’ music as soon as you can. He’s got a really nice voice, and some lovely songs to show it off with. His style will appeal to fans of laid-back jangly acoustic music, but there’s an unexpected hint of disco-pop in songs like Your Love Is A Tease as well, which makes his music stand out from the endless Scott Thomases (despite the name similarity) and Stephen Fretwells of the music world. It’s a very over-populated genre, but Rod is definitely among the very best in it. His new single, Same Old Lines, has a really cute video , and I reckon with the recent popularity of Noah and the Whale, he could get a lot of Radio 2 airplay and perhaps Radio 1 as well.
Hit potential: 85% Poptasticness: 70%