This Must Be Pop brings you Future Pop! (Issue #10)

There’s one thing the current wave of pop is sorely lacking, and that’s a good girl-boy band. There have been a few attempts and although Luminites are currently unsigned, they definitely have the most potential of any mixed group launched this year. They’ve perfected their live performance and won over fans by busking around London, and now they’re travelling the UK for a good old schools tour. With some of the big players from the late 90s/early 2000s pop scene involved with the group, it’ll be exciting to see how they bring what they did ten years ago up to date for a 2010s audience. Check out their debut music video All Dressed Up for a taste of what’s to come.

I’d never heard of him until a few weeks ago, but apparently Sam or Sammy Adams (he seems to be known as both) is already a figure of hate among hip hop fans. However, as they always say, all publicity is good publicity and the fact that Sam(my) had made such a big impression before even releasing his proper debut single suggests we’ll be hearing a lot more of him in the future. And his new single Blow Up should certainly cause more controversy as it samples Where Is My Mind by ‘proper music’ favourites The Pixies. Personally I think it sounds like a huge hit in waiting, especially considering the popularity of Chris René on X Factor US, who has a very similar sound.

Ester is one of the most successful urban-pop songwriters of the past five years so there will naturally be high expectations for her debut album as an artist. Her writing credits include huge hits such as Super Bass, Firework and Rude Boy, and she is also responsible for underrated faves of mine such as Rose Coloured Glasses by Kelly Rowland and Outta Here by Esmée Denters. Her singing voice is famously raspy and seems to split opinion with some saying she can’t sing. You can hear her for yourself on the new Tinie Tempah track Love Suicide. Her success really depends on whether she’s done a Taio Cruz and reserved her best tracks for herself, or a Priscilla Renea and given them all away. Fingers crossed she’s been keeping some gems aside.

I’ve got high hopes for the return of good quality indie-pop in 2012. Here are 5 songs that I hope we will be hearing more of, or at least more like:

Tracklisting:

Thanks for reading – I’ll be back next Monday with more Future Pop! In the meantime don’t forget to email and tweet me with your thoughts on the songs and artists above, and any suggestions for next week. Plus it would be great if you could recommend Future Pop to anyone you think might enjoy it and encourage them to subscribe for more.