Leader, a 5 piece alternative act from Oxfordshire & Buckingham drops the alternative rock track Open Skies. The band which is known for its live show has shared the stage with Wheatus, Razorlight, and Lonely The Brave. Furthermore, they sold out a headline show at Oxford’s O2 Academy. That’s pretty decent considering it’s a 1,000+ capacity-person room. Moreover, the band released the track Golden earlier in the year (which is good as well), that received support from BBC. Give it a listen.
ohHeyMy latest track was produced by Chicago dj/producer Goldhouse who is known for artist remixes like Sam Smith, Katy Perry and Gaga. She has built-in fanbase from fronting previous bands.
Recess, is an Ohio alternative pop act that is selflessly promoting their latest track Leaving Home. A video for the track is in the works. Ohio birthed mega act Twenty One Pilots. Could Recess be next?
Lenay releases her debut pop single La La Land. The former MTV host has built-in audience and her Spanish YouTube channel has over 5 million subscribers.
Cape Cub is a UK alternative pop-rock band that released the radio ready Moonglow. Unlike other hipsters, the band knows how to write big choruses.
Alice Gray is an LA based singer songwriter that blends synth and dream pop. Spotify gave it a New Music Friday.
Caly Bevier releases the track radio ready Head Held High. She grabbed some fans during her time on America’s Got Talent.
Riva Taylor delivers a soulful track My Mouth. At 12, she performed at the Farm Aid benefit concert at the Royal Albert Hall that was attended by Prince Charles who praised her performance.
Prove Me Wrong is a great track from Yoe Mase. Ironically, the chorus is reminiscent of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Use Know”. Gotye’s mega hit was out for a while, before blogs and celebs starting sharing the track giving it some legs. Furthermore, Prove Me Wrong has signs of life having already clocked 15 soundcloud plays and almost 200 retweets in just three days. With that aside, Yoe Mase is going to have to pop up his head sometime to face success if warranted, because of now, he’s is pretty elusive. Right now, he’s just “Hey. Im Yoe. I like making music sometimes. And I also snap the occasional insta…”.
London duo Alpines releases the emotional slow-tempo tune Alright that comes off their upcoming album. According to the duo it was inspired by the Netflix series The OA. “It is written for our generation. “We all need a reminder and reassurance that it is going to be ok. No one can do this alone. We now live in a world where we have constant awareness and it’s very hard to get relief away from social media and societal pressures.” Comprised of Catherine Pockson and Bob Matthews, they released an album in 2014 and has since built a bit of a cult following in the alternative scene with their soulful R&B tracks. Moreover, the’ve performed alongside with Florence and the Machine and the Maccabees. Additionally, they’ll perform at the Rich Mix in London on November celebrating the album release. Give it a stream.
In 2013, we talked about pop artist Bryce Vine who released an EP and performed shows with Karmin. He went on to perform a iHeartRadio live showcase with Z100 and appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers. Of course this all happened because of his hit song Drew Barrymore which clocked over 80 million streams. At the end of the day, you never can predict a hit. Vine reveals that he never imagined the massive success, “No. I just never wrote songs expecting that. … No, you just try to write good songs and then hope people hear it and then when something explodes, it’s like then you play catch-up.”
Consequently, hits can take minutes to write or months. In Vine’s case, the song was written over many months. Honing on his musical schools, Vine attended Berklee College Of Music which led to a Glee Audition. Sending in an audition tape via Myspace, he made it to the top 12 before being eliminated. After the Glee spectacle is when he released an EP (which we featured), but circumstances changed a bit. “I went through heartbreak and cynicism and stress trying to be like a broke musician in LA like everyone else,” he says. “I hated telling people that I was an artist when I had nothing to show for it. It felt dumb to say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m an artist and I make music, and we should collab.’ I just kept working towards it but it was hard…when you get cynical it’s hard to get out of that.”
Indeed, a hit song can change everything. Zero to hero in a day. With that, he has a new album coming out on Sire Records and will embark on an October tour with MAX.