Today sees the release of the debut LP from Leaving Atlantis, entitled Strange New World. The recording is initially available via iTunes with a physical release to follow. This electronic acoustic duo consisting of Vesa Haapanen and Signe Gry Thorup (from Finland and Denmark respectively, but now based in London) was one of the acts long listed for the 2011 Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent competition, following a nomination from Breaking More Waves. The track we’re streaming below – Solitaire - was the very first song we heard from the band. With its crestfallen strings, soothing sultry female vocal and weighty electronica this dramatic ballad grabbed us instantly. We'd like you to hear it too. Don't just listen to it though - immerse yourself in it.
The Leaving Atlantis self-released album is a masterclass in quality songwriting, excellent production and easy listening and will appeal to fans who enjoy Zero 7 and Sia. The main ingredient here is a subdued blissful warmth akin to a calming night in with a good bottle of red wine, some candles and someone you feel really comfortable with.
You only have to look at the Soundcloud player below to see the love that Solitaire has already gained from listeners. Without any sort of major label backing, blog hype or huge press coverage Leaving Atlantis have won over those who have had their ears gently kissed with this song.
After hours of painstaking listening and deliberation some of the best music bloggers in the UK have put forward their nominations for the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition 2011, and that includes Breaking More Waves. It was incredibly difficult to decide on our final three choices from the list of 160 bands we were given to listen to, but eventually we went with our hearts choosing quite simply the music that moved us the most.
We’re very pleased to announce that our top choice was the fantastic Codes, followed in second and third respectively by Leaving Atlantis and Temper the Wolves. We hope at some point to be able to see all of these bands live and hopefully support them on the blog, irrespective of if they make it any further in the competition.
Later this week, the 123 acts will be narrowed down to a shortlist of just 8 who will compete at April's live finals for a main stage slot at this year's Festival. They will be chosen by the final judging panel which consists of the following 10 judges: Michael Eavis (Glastonbury organiser), Emily Eavis (Glastonbury organiser), Nick Dewey (main stages programmer), Martin Elbourne (main stages programmer), Malcolm Haynes (Dance Village programmer), Steve Symons (West Holts programmer), Philippa Aylott (Radio One producer), Angus Baskerville (live agent), Paul Charles (agent/promoter/manager) and Chris Salmon (music journalist). We wish our three choices the very best of luck.
It also pleases us to see a number of other bands on the shortlist that we have blogged in the past such as Run Toto Run, Dems and The Dufflefolks – all excellent selections. In fact the long list represents a fantastic sample of new and emerging talent – the UK bloggers have demonstrated exactly why they are becoming increasingly known as a vital part of new music discovery. Below you’ll find tracks by all of these other bands together with an introductory video from our top choice Codes – an Irish band with a grandiose vision who combine stadium sonics, subtle electronic soundscapes and songs that deliver immediately but get better with every listen. Their album – Trees Dream In Algebra is brilliantly accomplished and we hope that irrespective of their now slim 123-1 chances of winning, that as the year progresses more people outside of Ireland will get to know about them.
Having been approached by the organisers of Glastonbury Festival's Emerging Talent competition late last year, Breaking More Waves is one of 40 UK based music blogs that has been selected to help judge the 2011 competition – the prize for the winner being a main stage slot at the 2011 festival.
Each blog is given an individual list of bands to listen to (in our case around 160) and asked to select its favourite 3, forming the long list of 120 acts which will be published on the Glastonbury website in March, together with the name of the blog that chose the act. The list will also be distributed to all the Glastonbury stage programmers (with listening links and genre details).
The longlist will then be whittled down to a shortlist of just 10 artists by judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis and these 10 will be invited to appear at a live final.
The judging process for the long list is simple enough with each judge being sent a selection of the bands that where possible accord with the blogs own preferences in terms of musical genre. At Breaking More Waves we have a fairly broad spectrum of taste and have therefore found ourselves listening to a mixed bag of music.
At this stage in the process we’ve listened to at least 1 song by every band in our cluster and have begun the process of whittling the 160 down to a more manageable number that we intend to listen to more before selecting our final 3. At this stage we’ve not made any firm decision – sometimes the most important ingredient of great music is time and we intend to give the acts we’re enjoying some more of that.
Our own criteria for choosing an act is does the music grab us, excite us and move us emotionally in some way? Does the act sound amazing or even better, do they sound A.M.A.Z.I.N.G ? Ultimately are they worthy of Worthy Farm?
As we continue the judging process the festival has very kindly agreed to blogs being able to feature some of the acts they are enjoying prior to the publication of the longlist.
A disclaimer is required here; just because we feature a band from our cluster group here on the blog does not necessarily mean that they will form part of our final three. We’re still considering the acts and no decisions have been made yet. In fact, our final three may contain acts that we’re not featuring here at all.
So without further ado, here comes the first of four posts, each featuring two of the bands that we’ve discovered through the competition. Enjoy and maybe let us know what you think? Our first two acts are Leaving Atlantis and Cloud Castle Lake.
Leaving Atlantis describe their music as progressive electroacoustic pop and are based in London, Copenhagen and Helsinki, and we guess that they have been allowed into the entries because of their London base - as acts have to be from the UK or Ireland. Having already gained some play on Amazing Radio, the only UK station dedicated to exclusively playing emerging and independent music ( a station that featured Breaking More Waves as their website of the week in January) they have also been hailed as Soundclouder of the Week. The song we have selected from their repertoire is Paradise, a sensual piece of gentle electronic bliss but we also strongly recommend the string laden and weighty Solitaire which you can listen to here.
The second band we’re featuring are Cloud Castle Lake from Dublin, Ireland, whose song A Wolf Howling is constructed from a repetitive beat, textured atmospheric guitar noise and near falsetto vocals that have an element of Radiohead to them – it’s a song to utterly lose yourself in.
