Not another singer songwriter with an acoustic guitar and a bunch of sweet songs you cry? Well bear with us, for Gabrielle Aplin is exceptionally good. The 18 year old Bath based singer has developed, with no record company help whatsoever, a significant fan base by what is now becoming the new-norm for singer songwriters; cover versions posted on You Tube. Her cover of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream has received over 250,000 hits and her version of The Liar and the Lighter by You Me At Six (streaming below) is nearing half a million. Along the way she’s covered Ellie Goulding, Coldplay and Bruno Mars, some of the songs on piano, others on acoustic guitar. Inevitably there are going to be comparisons to Birdy who has already found popularity in the UK with her Bon Iver and XX cover versions, but Aplin also has her own songs. It was one of these songs - Reverse (streaming below)– that Gabrielle uploaded onto the BBC Introducing website and as a result of that was invited to perform a session with BBC Wiltshire last summer. Since then she’s self-released 2 EP’s, performed on the acoustic stage at Glastonbury and been invited to record a further session with the BBC. Now she gets the Breaking More Waves treatment.
So why is Aplin growing in popularity? Here's a possible answer. There’s a reaction against the over engineered plastic pop that dominates the charts. Traditional singers, songs and instrumentation are having a re-birth. But these are not greying and wrinkled singer-songwriters wheeled out from the 70’s mumbling and grumbling that music isn’t what it used to be. Instead we have a new breed of young musicians who are endearing themselves to the public and having huge commercial success. It’s why acts such as Mumford & Sons, Adele, Ed Sheeran and the aforementioned Birdy are selling records in major quantities. It’s why it wouldn’t surprise us at all if Gabrielle Aplin is one of the next new kids on the block to get a record deal and grow from internet sensation to daytime radio mainstay.
Gabrielle Aplin is connecting with people using two key ingredients – delightful alluring songs and the power of the internet. This post offers yet another small piece of that.
Reverse by Gabrielle AplinLiar And The Lighter by Gabrielle Aplin
2 comments:
Gabrielle Aplin is one of those names I could've sworn I'd heard of many times before seeing featured on the blog. And, I was right, she's been put on quite a few times by a Portsmouth (and local areas) based promoter. Sadly, an over-reliance on wordy press releases and slightly pricey tickets have never made me want to go - I feel a fool now having heard that beautiful track.
I have been thinking a lot recently that I think a beautiful singer-songwriter is often the ideal tonic that fills all the spaces for music in your life (as opposed to more energetic styles, that, whilst great, can't always fill that void). I therefore wholeheartedly agree with this post.
PS: I'm gagging for the Ed Sheeran album to be released. And that's pretty much based on constant listens to The A Team as it's the only readily available track (Spotify)
I think I've developed an obsession. This is brilliant.
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