NEW #3 - Ashwarya

Her Facebook describes her simply as a singer/songwriter from Melbourne. This may well be true, but this description doesn’t do justice to Ashwarya. I’d prefer something along the lines of a fresh and fearless musician who makes multiple sonic-personality pop music. 

With its hushed vocals and minimal beats, debut single Psycho Hole certainly has a whiff of Billie Eilish about it, but if you delve a little deeper there’s a whole host of influences and cultural references to her work. You can hear it on her third and most recent release COMIN@ME. It’s a shape-shifting piece that flits from classy r ‘n’ b pop to bhangra beats like a ball bouncing off walls in a squash court. If you suffer from short attention spans this is for you. 

She’s the first signing to new label NOiZE, which is headed up by Australian producer Jarrad Rogers (he’s worked with Charli XCX, Lana Del Rey and Foxes to name just a few) with both artist and label stating that they wish to challenge the modern pop landscape. She certainly does this on Biryani, which is her other tune out there at the moment; it not only switches tempos but languages as well.

Ashwarya is making commercial pop that sits at the more interesting end of the spectrum. All she needs now is that big crossover track or that blow up moment (Tik Tok are you listening?) and then she could be everywhere.

Ashwarya - Psycho Hole 

 

 Ashwarya - COMIN@ME

ASHWARYA · COMIN@ME

NEW #2 - Kali

 

The last few years have seen a noteworthy rise in young artists making pop music that has its roots in lo-fi diy production. Whilst many of them fall by the way side, the cream sometimes rises to the top and so it is that we now have the likes of Girl In Red, Clairo and Beabadoobee all commanding positions way beyond their small bedroom beginnings, often then producing glossier and more heavily produced work.

It’s very early days, but Kali Flanagan (who goes just by the name Kali) could well be the next musician to join that group. 

Having taken up songwriting in her teens and formed an indie-surf-rock band called the Big Wednesday (named after the 1978 film) where she wrote and taught the band all the songs, Kali has now turned solo. Last November she released her debut track Back To The Start, which made that jump of being beyond lo-fi. It's a dreamy pop tune with a hooky guitar riff, restrained vocals and even some strings to flesh out some swooning drama of a relationship that just won’t let go: “You led me to think things were real, then I moved on, and now I’m back here,” she sings. 

This 16 year-old from Los Angeles is sprinkling her blissfully cool riffs and melodies with a dusting of magic. Now let's watch her grow.

Kali - Back To The Start

KALI · Back to the Start

NEW #1 - For Those I Love

 

As Breaking More Waves starts 2021 with a revised objective of just introducing new artists, proceedings get going with one that missed out being included in my Ones to Watch 2021 series last November and December by a fraction of a millimeter. If the Ones to Watch list had been 15 long he would have certainly been included. Instead For Those I Love is the first musician in a feature that simply goes by the title NEW, which I hope will run all year (see an explanation on yesterday's blog post by clicking here)

For Those I Love has already appeared on the BBC’s Later and been tipped by the Guardian in its 30 for 2021 feature after releasing just two tracks. However, take one listen to his debut I Have A Love and you’ll understand exactly why. There’s a unique personal poignancy and poetry to Dave Balfe’s words, which is delivered in his charismatic Irish accent. The spoken word styling reminds me a little of Endless Art by A House for anyone who remembers that.

Balfe was previously a member of rock collective Burnt Out. If that name isn't familiar, but have seen The Murder Capital live, you may well have heard one of their songs without realising it. It’s called Dear James and is played out as the band take to the stage at their gigs. 

Sadly Dave’s Burnt Out band mate, poet and friend Paul Curran passed away from suicide in 2018. As a result the forthcoming debut album from For Those I Love in part plays tribute to his mate, stapling together many of his memories whilst also exploring experiences of growing up in working-class Dublin. 

There have already been some comparisons with the first record by The Streets, as I Have A Love takes a journey from haunting piano chords and stillness to late night club culture. It’s an impressive and powerful piece of work that feels, despite the subject matter, both exultant and calming. The album should certainly be one to keep an ear out for.

For Those I Love - I Have A Love

For Those I Love · I Have a Love

New For 2021

As we all know 2020 wasn’t the year most hoped for. Boris Johnson’s “This is going to be a fantastic year for Britain,” tweet on January 2nd 2020 at least showing us that nobody knows exactly what the future will hold - even if you're the leader of a country.

But despite this, looking to the future is exactly what Breaking More Waves is going to be about in 2021. This year I’m going to be doing nothing else on the blog but introducing new artists. So let's hope it's going to be a fantastic year for them.

Since I started Breaking More Waves I was always a fan of the likes of Paul Lester’s Guardian New Band of the Day column (read how it ruined his life here) and Joe Sparrow’s A New Band A Day blog which managed 10 years before having an extended rest. 

On Breaking More Waves I’ve always run new artist type posts, be it under the heading New Waves or just plain old Introducing; the difference for 2021 is that's all I’m going to do. I won’t be posting daily, nor will I have a schedule. I might post three things in a week, then nothing for a month. I might write ten words or ten thousand. There will be no follow ups or no long-term support via the blog (sorry artists - but I will buy / stream your music, come and see you live and talk about you on Twitter here) I’ll also be updating my new music playlist on Spotify, not just with brand new artists, but with any new releases I like and come across, from established as well as new acts, although the playlist will no longer be monthly, but weekly, usually updated and refreshed at the weekend.

What is new and what isn’t is debatable of course. Not every artist I feature on the blog will have just released their debut song. A good example is Ashton Nicole Cassey, better known as Ashnikko, who released her first official material in 2018, but had tracks like Damsel on Soundcloud as far back as 2014. Yet I didn’t feature her as a new artist on Breaking More Waves until early last year; her debut long play mix tape due in the next month or two.

So that’s the plan. 2021 is all about the new. In summary – there will be a weekly new music playlist on Spotify, starting once new music really gets going (click here for the current monthly playlist which will become the weekly playlist) and irregular introducing posts here on the blog, imaginatively titled ‘New’. 

Let's hope 2021 is better than 2020, but let's all also remember this is a marathon not a sprint.