NEW #16 - Mette

 

Remember Lemon by N.E.R.D and Rihanna? If you’ve seen the video then you’ll already be familiar with today’s new artist Mette Towley – she’s the dancer who gets her hair shaved off. 

It’s dance that Mette has suggested is her first love in the past – she’s posted as such on her Instagram. However, she seems to be making a very good job of being a singer as well. In fact if you’ve seen her being featured on any other music website over the last few days you’ll see that she seems to have changed her mind, now saying that music is her first love. 

Her debut track Petrified, which is out this week, is a hooky dance floor friendly pop song. More than that it grooves with class.

OK, there are hundreds of hooky dance floor friendly pop songs but this stands out because of its immaculate production and a simple but sophisticated video in which Mette horrifies the health and safety police by riding backwards on a chunky 3-wheeler with no helmet before serving up some sharp shooting dance moves. She also has clearly mastered the ability to hard stare at the camera man.

It’s her first track, so it could all go downhill from here, but based on this Mette might just be your new favourite 'she's got it all' pop star in the making.

You can find Petrified on this week's Breaking More Waves New Music Weekly playlist by clicking here.

Mette - Petrified

NEW #15 - Sam Ryder

Today’s artist already has 2.6 million followers on Instagram. His Tik Tok account was named the most popular UK artist account of 2020. Yet his ‘official’ debut single Whirlwind only dropped earlier this week. (A previous song, a cover of  the classic rave track Set You Free by N-Trance was released in 2019 and can still be found on Spotify). 

If I was a betting man I’d be putting money on Sam Ryder flying as high very soon. 

How’s he achieved that online following? Is it because of some past participation in a reality TV show? No. Is he a member of a now defunct high flying boy band? No. (Although he has been in various music projects since 2009 including previous bands such as The Morning After and Close Your Eyes - nope, I'd never heard of them either). Does he have a famous mother or father or slept with someone famous? No. (Or not to my knowledge at least!)

He’s done it because, put quite simply, he’s got it. He seems to be able to turn his hand to any style and nail it. Pop, rock, soul – he can do it all. He has a vocal delivery that is rich and full bodied. He has the personality – take a look at his Instagram (samhairwolfryder) and let him grab you with his enthusiasm and humorous expressions. He has the looks – part Viking, part surfer dude. If he’d been on the X-Factor he would have won hands down. 

Put aside some time because once you’ve watched one of his covers on social media you’ll probably be going for a deep dive as he performs clips of The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Elton John, George Michael, Blondie and many more. 

If you’re a fan of Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Jon Newman, Passenger or Hozier you’ll probably find a lot to like about Sam Ryder. Let's hope he doesn't go back to running a vegan coffee shop (as he was doing not so long ago) in the near future.

You'll find Whirlwind on the Breaking More Waves New Music Weekly Playlist which will be uploaded to Spotify around 13.00pm on Friday 26th Feb. This is just the start.

Sam Ryder - Whirlwind

Sam Ryder · Whirlwind

Sam Ryder - Clip of Bee Gees Cover Stayin' Alive

NEW #14 - Wallice

 

Pop music is an odd profession isn’t it?

What other job in the world for example would you promote your product / brand by sitting in the bath (fully clothed or naked / with or without water) and do a photo shoot to promote it?

I could almost understand it if for example it was a plumbing company. But a musician? Yet so many of them do. Have a look on Twitter for #musiciansinthebath for a few examples.

Another odd way that musicians ‘promote’ their work is via the defeatist bio or CV.

“Gloomy rock band.”

“Just another beige indie group.”

“I just write songs.”

“Jazz school dropout.”

These are real examples. Frankly they don’t inspire confidence. If this was the first round of shortlisting for an interview I doubt if any of this lot would get through.

But of course, this is rock ‘n’ roll kids – where it pays to be anti-establishment and alternative.

The jazz school droput is the subject of today’s post. She’s called Wallice and she’s based in LA.

With two songs out there on streaming services (although you'll find a bunch of older stuff going back 5 years on Soundcloud - of these songs Call Me By Your Name is particularly lovely) she’s ditched the jazz for pop. I’m not suggesting that she’s making the deathlessly bland super produced pop that sits easily on daytime radio. Instead, based on the 2 most recent songs it seems that Wallice’s music is more lo-fi indie but still packed with mellifluous melodies and hooks – fans of Clairo, beabadoobee or Lauran Hibberd will probably find something they like here.

Debut single Punching Bag is lyrically one of those can’t forget you tunes: “Left my Hydro flask in the back of your car, I'd like to have it back but you live so far? Can I come and grab it later today? Can I stick around? I drove all this way.” 

Second and latest track 23 deals with the aspirations of a young  (but not that young - sorry Wallice youth is over) person approaching their twenty-third birthday and how sometimes life doesn’t quite pan out the way you hoped. Wallice sings about being “terrified of the future, scared that I’ll still be a loser.” Mind you her (laced with cynicism?) aspirations are pretty high: “Maybe I’ll get married soon and buy a house with 3 bedrooms.”

Conclusions to all of this? Wallice may be rubbish at writing a bio, but she’s pretty good at making music.

Wallice - 23 (Video)

 

 Wallice - Punching Bag

 

Wallice · Punching Bag

NEW #13 - Amy Montgomery

 

Today’s new artist channels elements of Bonnie Tyler and Suzi Quatro in her commanding vocal delivery, whilst creating a forceful and raw sound that could have easily come from any decade - except the last one. 

It’s this out of fashion approach that makes Amy Montgomery from Belfast, Northern Ireland stand out. She is definitely not a Billie Eilish copycat and is all the better for it.

Amy describes her music as “alt-rock inspired by experience, nature and search for truth.” Nowhere can that be heard more than on the cathartic lead track from her most recent EP Intangible. This tour-de-force of a tune is about her mother, who committed suicide when Amy was just 16 years old. Yet despite the tragic subject matter Amy makes the song truly uplifting: “I know this sounds like a strange thing, but I think it’s pretty nice that when we’re gone the birds will still sing.” It’s accompanied by a video that, despite being relatively low budget, makes good use of sheets and coloured dry ice to reflect the song in a powerful and compelling way. 

The aforementioned Bonnie Tyler similarities really come out elsewhere on the Intangible EP though. The song Jupiter 4 is a huge ballad which finds Amy’s vocal not just reaching for the skies but pole-vaulting the clouds in rasping glory. It’s huge. Old Photographs is another one – the piano may be soft and restrained but from the off Amy’s vocal kicks butt. It makes the likes of Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine look slight and meek.

Her sound might belong to a musical style that you assumed was long lost. But with live performances where she appears bare footed, adorned in war paint and in flamboyantly bohemian stage-wear, plus the big songs to carry it off, it’s clear that Amy Montgomery has other ideas. Write her off at your peril. 

Amy Montgomery - Intangible (Video)