5 Songs You Need To Hear – 17/11

There has never been an easier time to access music.

With every passing year, technology is making how we listen to music easier and easier. Access to the best new artists, bands and DJ’s has gone from a lucky radio air or festival slot, to a few clicks away. This can obviously be seen as a good thing, but with all that music, it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, especially with music being a thing of taste.

This blog is going to be a regular weekly post. I aim to try and introduce people to a band, artist or DJ that they haven’t heard of, so hopefully at least one track will be new to readers each week. I’ll also try to diversify the music genres included in the blog so there is something for everyone each week.

The rules:

1. The song has to have been released after 1st January 2014. That’s when I started making playlists of new music and spending my free time searching for music.
2. Each artist/band can only be mentioned on this blog once a year, purely as that will allow me to showcase as many artists/different bands as possible.
3. No chart toppers or viral tracks. They are easy to find and the tracks that most people will have heard a lot of.

Amber Run – I Found

This is a track which you can see has a lot of plays, yet the band themselves don’t seem to get much attention. Their debut album 5AM was released earlier this year and is a great effort by the band, with just as many catchy songs as there are atmospheric. They are praised for their live performances too, so they seem to be ones to watch out for over the next couple of years.

Fox Stevenson – Simple Life

Fox Stevenson is a guy that’s been around for years now. He’s known well by fans of the genre, and was regarded as the best of his genre when on the Liquicity label. Since those days he’s branched out into almost every form of modern dance music you could possibly name. Now that he’s releasing tracks on Spinnin Records, including Comeback (out last Friday), his fan base is growing, and it seems like it’s only a matter of time before the northern DJ gets his tracks added onto the playlists of mainstream nightclubs.

Layla – Smokestacks

Josephine Vander Gucht’s career highlight so far as a solo artist was this song being used on a couple of different BBC adverts at the end of last year. So if you’re thinking that the music is familiar, that’s why. Choosing the stage name Layla has quite possibly stalled her rise to fame, as she is one of many female artists who has chosen to go with the name on stage. Since the release of this track on the EP Black Mud, she continued working hard behind the scenes, releasing another EP a few months after called Weightless. The title tracks from both of these are definitely worth checking out. She’s also working on a joint venture with Anthony West called Oh Wonder and they’re sure to feature on this blog in the coming weeks.

Lower Than Atlantis – Get Over It

A band that will be known to many who are into the British alt-rock music scene. Lower Than Atlantis are a classic example of a band that were around for a long time before they got their big break. Here We Go, the first single released off 2014’s self-titled album, got a lot of airplay on BBC Radio 1, pushing them more into the mainstream light. Their slow and steady rise looks to continue. This track is the first released since their fourth album. Showing a slightly poppy edge, it still maintains that classic LTA sound that their fans have become used to though.

Of Mice And Men – Never Giving Up

From the most atmospheric and easy-listening track at the top, to something significantly heavier by the end, Of Mice And Men are a band known mainly to people who are into the Rise Records type of bands. Crown The Empire and Memphis May Fire – these guys all have a similar style to their music. This track was released recently as a single, after being included at the start of the year on the deluxe re-issue of 2014’s Restoring Force. The band toured with Linkin Park worldwide after the original release of the album, and will be headlining their own tour in America this year. The song here is an example of a lighter approach from them, as a lot of their tracks contain significantly more growling. Nonetheless, they do this with expert mixing and great riffs, which is exactly why they’ve propelled themselves to the attention of many.

There’s a lot of music for this blog to catch up on, so I’m going to try and do that whilst getting the newest tracks too over the next few weeks.

I hope you’ve found something you liked!