One might think that becoming an artist, creating music and sharing it with the world becomes less and less attractive in these troubled times. But even as a music magazine we’re still impressed by the amount of great new talent that lands on our digital tables every day. The new artists 2016 showcase a satisfying level of diversity that basically offers something for everyone. You may have noticed that we here at NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION launched a whole bunch of new playlists at the start of the new year, including a ‘Best New Artists 2016’. We’ve been filling that up with some of the best new music around for a while now, and we’ve decided to take the step of giving you a slightly more thorough introduction to the great new acts we want to share with you.
From the noise-wrecking furious power of YAK, to the gentle wave pop of an artist like DRANGSAL; from the sweet reduced folk pop of MOTHERS to the uncompromising independent rock of German newcomers ISOLATION BERLIN – this playlist is packed with wonderful new talents that deserve your attention. And since we update it quite often there’s nothing wrong about giving those best new artists 2016 a bit more attention right here. Please get to know the latest four additions right now.
Moon City Boys
The rock band cliché (four-piece guitar/bass/drums line-up, sunglasses indoors etc) attracts a lot of derision these days, and enough terrible bands have wallowed in it that deserves it (Here’s looking at you, U2). But there’s a reason that aesthetic became popular enough to become a cliché in the first place; because if you have enough panache and, importantly, the songs to pull it off, it is pretty fucking cool. And Stockholm band MOON CITY BOYS.
have the panache, and definitely have the songs. Their latest single, City, bounces along on a gutter-groove guitar riff, with frosty vocals that perfectly capture that the-world-is-swirling-around-me sense of urban tension. It is essentially a really, really good guitar-rock song, and there are very few things around better than that. MOON CITY BOYS are currently working on their debut album, due out sometime soon.
Living
Lucas de Almeida, Sturla Kverneng and Nora Tårnesvik are Living, and despite the fact that they’ve given their band a name that is going to make it really difficult to look up them up online, they’re thriving. The Bergen trio put out a well-received single called Florahedron last year, and have already been booked in to play SXSW in March. Now they’ve continued the streak with their new track Cerulean. The track is pure breezy dance music, sounding a spacier version of the more electronic side of VAMPIRE WEEKEND. Cerulean comes out on March 12th on Brilliance Records, and you can catch the band on the same day at East Austin Backyard if you’re lucky enough to be at SXSW.
Eera
Photo: Alice Rainis
EERA goes about her day-to-day life as Anna Lena Bruland, a Norwegian musician based in London (as this and the previous track indicate, Norwegians are pretty good at this music stuff). White Water is a song built around oceanic imagery (the video sticks to this theme), and EERA creates a soaring, crashing soundscape to match, one that the listener find themselves submerged in as it washes over them. Bruland’s brittle, quivering vocal can at times recall ANGEL OLSEN, but whereas OLSEN tends to keep her recordings more lo-fi and stripped back, EERA embraces the big, lush pop chorus to good effect. EERA’s debut self-titled EP is out on March 4th on House Arrest.
Keiandra
KEIANDRA is an electronic singer-songwriter from Newcastle, who’s gained a bit of a reputation for making murky, dreamy pop songs. Her new single Icing Sugar is a slo-o-w burning song, one that fizzes into life through a steady build-up of fuzz and haze. It’s given a shivering, unsettling aspect by the juxtaposition of the sweetness of the lyrics (‘bet your lips taste like icing sug-ar’) and the cold distance of their delivery. The warped production just adds to the track’s enigmatic nature, making it a song that is very easy to get lost in. KEIANDRA‘s Empty Palaces EP drops on March 11th.
We frequently update our ‘Best New Artists 2016’ Playlist over at Spotify with promising new acts that deserve to be in the spotlight. You can listen to the already over three hours long playlist below. Make sure to never miss any updates by following NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION on Spotify right here.
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