Imagine for a second that we’re in the first week of 2015 and we’re looking back at 2014. The weather was a bit shit. Cheryl Cole didn’t actually make a return to The X Factor (who’d have guessed it). Chances are that the biggest album of the year was the third Adele opus. Or Our Version of Events. Or the Sam Smith debut (unless Money On My Mind grates on everyone as much as it does to me). When we look back on the year though, which of the ‘tips for 2014’ will have slung out some good music?
FKA twigs
The FKA twigs album is only likely to sell a few thousand copies. It probably won’t trouble the upper echelons of the charts. But it’s going to be very good if her previous releases are anything to go by. Papi Pacify is her best thus far, which is sparse enough to sound like 2014 (sparse atmospheric pop is the real ‘Sound of 2014’), but it’s all a bit weird which is always good. A lot has been said about how brilliant she is at pushing the boundaries of female sexuality (particularly in her videos which aren’t very 4Music). Unless she cocks it all up, she’ll probably be in every ‘Best of 2014’ Top 5. Is she gets it out in time, it’ll probably get nominated at the Mercurys.
MNEK
The man behind All Fired Up is unlikely to release a shit album. The man who wrote Need U (100%) is almost certainly not going to release a shit album. The man who sings on the above song (which is one of the year’s best so far) cannot possibly release a shit album. Yes, the same was said for the woman behind Party In The USA but whatever. Basically this album is almost certainly going to be the best album by a man who has worked with The Saturdays, Duke Dumont and Gorgon City.
Chloe Howl
Chloe Howl has kind of been over-shadowed by Sam Smith and Ella Eyre at the beginning of this year. All three got nominated for the Brit’s Critics Choice award. It is quite likely that all three will fill the last three places on the BBC Sound of 2014 list (although Banks may get a look in). Her music is probably the best out of the three though. She sounds a bit like Lily Allen, and the music sounds a bit like Robyn (particularly Paper Heart, which sounds like Dancing On My Own 2K14). She’s really funny on Twitter too, which is always good.
Say Lou Lou
There are two things in the musical world that you can’t go wrong with. The first being Australian pop, second Swedish pop. The Say Lou Lou twins are half Australian and half Swedish, so either their album is going to be extremely good or the world is going to implode. Evidence suggests the former; Beloved in particular is post-Call The Shots mood-pop done particularly well. They’ve been positioned as the female Hurts, which is all well and good but lets hope they don’t ‘go rock’ for album two.
Florrie
I know I wrote about her as someone to watch last year and I’m going to continue to do so until her album comes out. Not much has changed since the last time I wrote about her :(. The album should come out at some point this year but who knows? It took Sky Ferreira a while and look how good that is.
Banks
Some people have called her the ‘female Drake’. Others have gone for the ‘female Weeknd’. Basically she makes sparse, moody electronic R&B. This Is What It Feels Like is particularly a jam, and would probably do quite well if given a push. I guess hers and FKA twigs’ album are going to be quite similar (both are very 2014), but Banks will probably have the more successful album. She might also get a Top 3 placing on the BBC’s Sound of 2014 list later this week, but I think she’ll either be missed off or get a third placing behind Sam Smith and Ella Eyre. Which would be good anyway.
Foxes
Foxes album Glorious will be glorious. Not only because it’ll be mis-labelled if it’s not, but because we’ve heard a fair amount of the album already and it is glorious. It’s highly likely that you’ve heard Youth at some point since she put it one Soundcloud at the end of 2011, but it remains an above average tune. New single Let Go For Tonight is perhaps her finest moment though, managing to take the best bits of all the songs she’s thrown out so far and turning them into a massive banger. The video is really good too, although people prone to hair envy probably should avoid it. Much like Chloe Howl, her Twitter is hilarious too. Perhaps the pair should drop the musical ‘stuff’ and become a comedy duo (it’d be better than releasing a perfume anyway).
early to the party. 