Choosing the 10 artists in this year’s Breaking More Waves Ones to Watch 2015 has been harder than any previous year. We could have quite easily expanded the list to include artists such as Vaults, Raury, All We Are, Shannon Saunders, Soak, Kacy Hill, Claudia Kane, Ibeyi, Rebecca Clements, Sam Sure, Honne, Black Honey, Billie Marten, Shura and Meanwhile. The number of possible choices shows that music is in very good health in terms of emerging talent.
However the final artist we’ve chosen is UK based singer, songwriter, producer and self-taught multi-instrumentalist Elderbrook (real name Alex Kotz), who first cropped up on Breaking More Waves late in 2013 (around a similar time that other choices such as Laura Doggett and Lapsley did) and has subsequently signed with Black Butter records, home of the likes of Rudimental and Clean Bandit.
The reason for our eventual choice is because of the exciting possibilities this artist offers. The small amount of his music published so far has managed to blend elements of dance, hip-hop, folk, electronica and soul in a way that is both exploratory and yet accessible. Some (including ourselves) have referenced Alt-J as a possible reference point with certain songs (although not the ones we're streaming below) but there’s a sense with his work that he really could go in any direction – categorisation here is pointless. What we do know is that the construction of his songs is fascinating, formed as they are from unusual beats and ideas, but those ideas are never over loaded, Elderbrook let’s his songs grow giving them a very organic and natural feel.
Elderbrook’s debut EP Simmer Down was released at the start of the week. What comes next we’ve no idea, but we’re fascinated to see.
Elderbrook - Could (Video)
Elderbrook - How Many Times
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