Future Pop is a weekly email featuring the hottest new pop songs and artists that you need to know about. Sign up here then read on, listen up and make sure you tweet me @poptastic to let me know what you think of my picks!
Future Stars
Could the next big dubstep star be a former folk singer from Scotland? Maybe! Dot JR (real name Jimmy Reeves) is actually a lot more than another dubstep artist, although his music is clearly dubstep-influenced. He's managed by Tinie Tempah's company Disturbing London (along with Sasha Keable) and signed to Polydor, after being chased by a few big labels. At the time of signing he had some promising electro-R&B tracks on his MySpace which have since been removed, but they have been replaced by a track called Moonlight which sounds as exciting now as it did when he first uploaded it a year ago. I wouldn't be surprised it Labrinth had given it a few listens before he made Earthquake.
Thanks to Adele there is likely to be a lot more attention on large indie label XL Recordings over the coming year, and one artist who may benefit from that is Willis Earl Beal. He's a very talented Chicago soul singer who recently sold out his first ever UK gig and will re-release his debut album through XL in April, but amazingly only a few months ago he was a contestant on X Factor US! His acapella videos position him as a cooler version of Aloe Blacc, but his new single Evening's Kiss is just generic depressing indie which I feel wastes his vocal talent. Why mumble when you can sing so well?
X Factor reject-turned-runner up Amelia Lily has been offered a record deal thanks to one of the UK's best writer/producers Brian Higgins, head of the production team Xenomania. Despite the overall disaster that was Xenomania's previous attempt to launch a label, Xenomania Records (home of Mini Viva and Alex Gardner) which went through Universal, Brian now has a new imprint within Sony and Amelia is his first signing. I'm sure Brian will work his magic but I can't see her doing that well, as there's been no buzz about her since the show ended. If he had to sign anyone from X Factor 2011, surely Misha would have been a better choice?
Future Hits
This week's playlist features the songs I think should be sampled or re-interpreted for 2012.
Tracklisting:
- Ashanti – Foolish
- Lumidee – Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)
- Tweet ft. Missy Elliott – Oops (Oh My)
- Outhere Brothers – Boom Boom Boom
- Gala – Freed From Desire
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 spread the word about Future Pop to anyone you think might enjoy it and encourage them to subscribe.
0 comments