Editors' Picks

The Shires, Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes, have quite a story about their formation.

It’s amazing how many young artists start their journey wanting to be football players.

Comprising of four childhood friends, Glass Animals have been gathering steady momentum since the release of their first EP in 2012.

There are many brilliant young musicians that now have various new avenues to get their music heard.

It surprised me to hear that The 1975’s have been together for 18 years.

You may have heard JP Cooper on the Jonas Blue song, ‘Perfect Strangers’. He has also appeared on ‘Get Involved’ from Craig David’s 2018 album release ‘The Time is now’.

On Valentine’s Day weekend, Kim Petras proved herself to be bold as she tapped into a sore spot that many of us choose to overlook on the special day --- heartbreak.

Two years since her debut release and 4 years since the concept of Becky and the Birds was created, Thea Gustafsson launches into a new phase of her career with her new tracks.

Ingrid Andress is one of Country Music’s rising stars. The 28 year old from Michigan made a great start to her career, with her 2019 album release ‘More Hearts Than Mine’ reaching number 12 on the US country songs list.

Sam Smith has been one of the highest profile artists in the world in recent years.

The story surrounding the Mystery Jets dates back to the birth of the band in 2003. Now, 7 albums later and many additions and losses to the line up, they’re now releasing their seventh album, motivated by the ups and downs of political protest and the turbulent last year or two in British politics.

With B Young fitting into the Afro Swing/Hip Hop movement, he has established himself as one of the UK leading lights with his recent releases.

It was 1999 when Mandy Moore released her first single ‘Candy’ and immediate comparisons were made to the other stable of teenage female pop stars of the late 90s, the likes of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera for example.

You might be thinking the name sounds familiar, and if you’re not a Scissor Sisters fan, then you would be forgiven for misplacing Jake Shears’ face.

Emeli Sande seems to have been quieter than normal in recent years. Her dominance at the 2012 Olympics drew a huge amount of attention and new fans, but her anthems were already known to many after her debut in 2009.

One thing we certainly know is that Gregory Porter is not overrated, even if love is. At 48 years young, his voice and experience is developing more and more with each release.

The history of Phantogram is that of a long lasting friendship, leading on the creative prowess of Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter to come to fruition. Forming in New York back in 2007, they can now boast a catalogue of 3 albums, 4 EPs and 10 singles, with a mix of genre influences that creates an overall unique blend that both multiinstrumentalists can produce. 

The Pussycat Dolls have been away for quite a while now. Whilst in the UK we are used to seeing Nicole Scherzinger on our screens, ‘React’ marks a return from the whole band following a staggering 10 years away. However the group are one member down with their reunion, as Melody Thornton has elected to pursue her own solo ambitions.

The Magic Gang are one of the UKs most entertaining live acts. Since forming in Brighton in 2013 they have built a reputation as a fun and high energy band that has masses of talent.

When you see that the current front man of Queen has teamed up with Nile Rodgers, one of the most influential guitarists of the last century you’re already intrigued as to what they will produce.

Some artists need little introduction and Niall Horan is certainly one of those. If you didn’t already know, he first found fame as a fresh faced 16 year old in One Direction.

For 10 years, Ghostpoet has been giving us a blend of music, that he might say is unidentifiable. Not limiting himself to one area has been a stroke of genius and has allowed for his productions to move in and out of the Hip Hop mould and experiment with other mixes to get his creative side across.

Mr Eazi, whose real name is Oluwatosin Ajibade is a 28 year old musician who is bringing his roots from Nigeria into mainstream music in the form of Banku, an afro fusion blend of modern hip hop and trap genres.

It has been 6 years since Porter Robinson’s first album release ‘Worlds’ which catapulted him into the mainstream media.

It is safe to say that the music industry is changing very quickly. It could be argued that it’s not always in the most positive ways, but for others it is.

Lovelytheband released their debut single ‘Broken’ in 2017 and since then have really taken advantage of the publicity. Their initial release saw them top the alternative charts for 9 weeks and gave them an exposure most bands only dream of.

It’s been a while now since we first saw Fleur East, way back on the 2005 X Factor show, when she was part of Addtictiv Ladies. Work followed as a solo artist, but she is probably more familiar as an individual performer on the 11th series of the same show, where she was far more successful.

This North London based group are really something different and refreshing in UK music, with a blend of Indie, pop and even afrobeat to name a few influences you can hear in their tracks.

Demi Lovato first rose to fame in way back in 2002 in Barney and Friends, before the Disney success of Camp Rock shot her further into the world of international stardom.

It would be difficult not to include Liam Gallagher’s review, seeing as both Noel and Liam have released new material within a day of each other.

There’s been a lot of hype in recent weeks about a possible Oasis reunion, and whilst for many people that would be incredible, it must not detract from the fact that both Liam and Noel have new releases with their own solo projects this week.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that Sleep Token are a bit different to your regular band. For starters, they’re clandestinely clad, wearing black from head to toe, faces obscured by masks and black body paint doused on all the parts not quite covered by their robes. 

The Weeknd delves into a polychromatic hyper-reality in his latest rollicking single ‘Blinding Lights’. In recent years, the Canadian singer-songwriter of Ethiopian origin has not shied away from the dramatics, his sound exploring a range of themes, emotions and stylistic forms.

Okay, I’m going to hold my hand up and say before I reviewed this song, I hadn’t come across Trixie Mattel, and hearing Malibu for the first time took me a little by surprise.

It was 2003 when the world first got a chance to hear All Time Low. Their style has evolved over the 17 years they’ve been together and they now boast a full and accomplished catalogue of high profile songs and they tour (a lot), which has kept them at the top of their game as a performing band.