Chasing Pluto
What would you get if you crossed Hurts with Ellie Goulding? Probably something very much like Chasing Pluto, a fantastic new pop duo based in London. I feel quite ashamed that I’ve only just heard of them (although I do remember someone mentioning a ‘new Eurythmics’ which could have been them?) as they seem to have been around for a while and are working with some top notch people, but it looks like things are set to take off for them in 2011 so I’ve discovered them just in time. Singer Corinne has a beautiful voice and along with musician/producer Jamal has come up with some great melodies. It’s very much to my taste but I’ll have to hear more to tell if they can make it really big. Still I think a lot of people are going to be talking about Chasing Pluto in the next few months so they’re definitely worth a listen.
Hit potential: 74% Poptasticness: 90%
MNDR
This New York duo are a bit like La Roux in the sense that most will think MNDR is just Amanda Warner’s stage name, but (according to Wikipedia at least) there is actually a bloke called Peter Wade in MNDR as well. It’s all about Amanda though and she’s already making a name for herself thanks to her appearance on Mark Ronson’s single Bang Bang. That song’s not a favourite of mine, but she looked so cool performing it on T4 Stars of 2010 at the weekend that I had to investigate – plus I’ve been hearing MNDR mentioned loads recently. I actually really like their sound, but as it’s more to the electro end of electro-pop I’m not expecting it to have much mass appeal. However they’ll definitely appeal to the types who like Santigold or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She’s basically the East Coast Ke$ha.
Hit potential: 37% Poptasticness: 70%