Category Archives: Blog

Black Country, New Road live at NUSU review – indie darlings hit a stumbling block
10
Aug

Poorly served by a dodgy soundsystem and impatient crowd, Black Country, New Road never quite found their stride on a drab night in Newcastle. Lethargic and lackadaisical, the vibrance of their first three albums seemed a world away.

They say that sometimes history repeats itself. Last May I found myself picking through crowds of jubilant Leeds United fans to the back of a winding queue outside a sunny Brudenell Social Club, bursting with anticipation of a performance from Black Country, New Road, a prospect made all the more intriguing by the fact that the band’s frontman Isaac Wood had abruptly left just three months prior. Almost exactly a year later it’s the black and white striped shirts of Newcastle United that are flowing past me towards their stadium. This time just as before, I had more important matters to attend to than football; BC,NR were back in the north. The now six-piece band continue to be the talk of the British indie rock scene, largely off the back of their massively successful 2022 masterpiece Ants From Up There, which contains some of my most treasured pieces of music. Last time I attended the Newcastle University’s unappealing gigging venue for Cassia last October I arrived at peak times but nonetheless had to resort to the help of the Co-op security guard to locate the entrance. There were no such issues this time: the long line of young, mostly male students snaking around campus was testament to BC,NR’s ever-growing cult following. Me and friends Ewan and Ben weren’t particularly late, but the crowd inside NUSU was already dense as we queued up for Coke. We considered ourselves lucky with a spot to the extreme front left of the audience, even if it meant half of the band would be entirely hidden from view by a set of speakers.

To some extent, I knew exactly what I was in for as the concert started up. The band’s promising set of completely unreleased material last year in Leeds has since been tweaked and released as an enjoyable live album, and this performance promised repeat renditions of those nine songs. However, releasing an album changes it. This was immediately obvious in raucous, feel-good opening number Up Song. Where in Leeds the joy had been in the element of surprise and the spontaneous audience reactions (indeed, the screams of elation audible when the wall of sound first hit at the start of the song remains one of my most memorably exhilarating gigging experiences), in Newcastle we had an opportunity to sing along to the now familiar lyrics. In particular, the earnest, adorable line “Look at what we did together / BC,NR friends forever!” was aptly belted out by everyone in the room in a wonderful moment of togetherness. The sense of collective support for the band continued through cheers over Lewis Evans’ squeaky sax part, but I’ll admit I found myself missing Leeds’ element of surprise. The listening experience certainly wasn’t helped by worryingly lacklustre execution. Singing bassist Tyler Hyde looked particularly weary and unenthused, which was perhaps understandable after, crushingly, her microphone failed to work during the crucial first few lines of the song. Even as the song hit its heaviest patches of danceable rock, most band members kept their eyes steadily locked to the floor in front of them, seemingly wishing this whole affair to be over already. The ongoing tour to promote their live album does indeed seem rigorous (the drive to Newcastle from Leeds came via Dublin, and this week they head to Manchester via Glasgow), and in NUSU there was plenty of evidence that all the hard work is getting to them. Releasing an album changes the band, too.

Most band members kept their eyes steadily locked to the floor in front of them, seemingly wishing this whole affair to be over already.

A limp Up Song set the tone for a distinctly disappointing evening, albeit largely for reasons out of BC,NR’s control. The greatest flaw was the sound design. I already knew NUSU was a poxy venue, but it was shocking just how completely an off night from the sound guy eliminated any hopes of getting lost in the music. The band must have experienced this before – the complex mix of violin, saxophone, flute and multiple lead vocal mics must be a headache for even the most capable audio engineer, and indeed their set in Leeds last year was not without its niggles – but this performance seemed exceptional. Some supporting instruments were rendered inaudible at some point in almost every song and crucial moments were blotted by ear-bleeding microphone feedback.

Half of Black Country, New Road at NUSU, with Hyde playing bowed bass and Evans having switched from saxophone to flute.

I Won’t Always Love You was one of the songs that suffered most. It had a promising start, with Hyde wisely swapping out a slightly tedious stop-start rubato intro for a searching tapestry of guitar plucking, but one expansive crescendo later and the mix had become muddier than a soggy afternoon at Glastonbury. Evans’ screaming sax lines, searing on the official live album, were amongst the several components lost to the din. It was a similar story for 10-minute epic and prior fan favourite Turbines/Pigs. May Kershaw’s graceful piano melodies remained spellbinding, but as the ambitious climax arrived, the NUSU speakers proved utterly incapable of handling Hyde’s sinister bowed bass guitar. For a song all about the patient build towards a gut-wrenching finale, this failing was one of the night’s most tragic.

Perhaps the poor sound quality was also to blame for a notably rowdy and disinterested crowd, even if the venue was undoubtedly sold out. Invariably, BC,NR’s quiet instrumental moments were rudely talked over. Evans was measured in his response, repeatedly offering gentle requests of “hush now, people of Newcastle,” before, a few songs later, giving a more exasperated “you’re too loud, Newcastle.” Tellingly, some of the more witless audience members only whooped back at him, assuming it was a compliment. Evans and his bandmates looked more defeated than vexed, and the passages of music not lost to soundsystem screeches were lost to a hubbub of chatter instead. Feeling ignored, it’s no wonder their performance sagged as a result.

Was that a dissonant note choice or simply a mistake? As a tepid applause rolled in, I decided it was probably the latter.

A few new songs thrown into the set list were essential to beef out the live album’s fleeting 47 minute runtime, but the fresh material turned out to be far more inconsistent than what BC,NR fans have become accustomed to. Early on, Evans led an unreleased song that felt clumpy and unsettled, and both the iffy tuning of Hyde’s guitar and questionable note choices from violinist Georgia Ellery warranted brows furrowed in suspicion. Was that a consciously dissonant note choice or simply a mistake borne out of mid-tour fatigue and unease? As the song reached a wimpering fade out and a tepid applause rolled in, I decided it was probably the latter. By far the best of the new songs came towards the end of the set and saw drummer Charlie Wayne thrillingly take hold of a banjo (and, even better, play it quite competently). The intricate, light-footed experimental folk tune that followed sounded uniquely vibrant, and gave a hint of the group’s outstanding musicianship that had been so apparent on the turbulent jazz cuts of their debut album. Ellery – the transfixing voice behind radical electronic duo Jockstrap – also provided strong lead vocals at one point, in a well-overdue first for BC,NR.

It was an indication of the band’s general tiredness that it was only as the gig’s finish line came into view that they finally found their stride. Up Song‘s new reprise was the biggest innovation on the band’s live material since their trip to the Brudenell, and attempted to wrap the neat bow of a cyclical narrative on the show’s disparate collection of jaded performances. Somehow, it worked. Hyde’s vocals sounded even more piercing and achingly vulnerable than usual, and Kershaw’s twinkling, pensive piano playing felt strangely moving after witnessing six people drag themselves through what must have been an unpleasant 80 minutes on stage. For a tantalising, undulating few minutes, we were gifted a glimpse of just how beautiful BC,NR’s music can be, given the right circumstances. The speaker feedback had stopped and the impolite crowd had been silenced, apparently in repect of this breathtaking flash of artistry. Minutes before they were to disappear unceremoniously backstage (an encore was out of the question), Black Country, New Road had rediscovered what makes them such special, singular talents. On a better night, this would be the time to let the tears roll and succumb to the urge to giddily bash out a five-star review the next morning. Tonight, it was a case of too little too late.

Jockstrap live at Belgrave Music Hall review – a delightfully dark fever dream
20
Feb

At their best when basking in strobe lights and stage smoke, Jockstrap proved their credentials in Leeds as artists at the cutting edge of electronic music. No other artist can even begin to sound like them.

Walking into the main concert room of Belgrave Music Hall shortly after doors opened, I was confronted with a disconcerting scene. Smoky and lit a pungent blood red, the room was almost entirely empty save for two lone figures stood beneath the stage and several more sat ominously on seats by the walls around me. Strangest of all, an eerily serene Tchaikovsky string quartet played loudly through the speakers. Such gentle music felt like a poorly disguised lure into some supervillain’s lair, and I took a minute or two to wait on the benches as the crowds built before taking the bait myself and finding a spot at the front.

The background music was an aptly unsettling way to set the tone for the night ahead. Jockstrap’s music may often involve instruments we all know and love – piano, acoustic guitar, strings – but quite how the duo stitch these raw materials together varies wildly, although a meticulous, avant garde approach to electronics usually has a part to play. Underpinning it all is a knack for sinister lyricism and haunting, half-whispered melodies to match the alien concoction of sounds. Talented vocalist Georgia Ellery doubles as violinist in cult chamber rock group Black County, New Road, but the endlessly creative production of Taylor Skye ensures that Jockstrap’s sound is starkly different to her other project: darker, harsher and altogether even less accessible. Ants From Up There turns out to be excellent gateway drug to Jockstrap superfandom.

Ellery occasionally took to violin and acoustic guitar, whilst Skye crafted the beats

They may not sound quite like BC,NR, but the thirst for creative, eyebrow-raising songwriting is the same. On the duo’s slightly more straightforward tracks, this manifested itself in adventurous harmony, like on the shimmering Greatest Hits. Perhaps the closest thing Jockstrap have got to a pop singalong, the catchy “I believe in dreams, do you?” hook had the crowd on the pair’s side early on. There was of course no real drummer for the outstanding percussion break in the bridge, but Ellery was comfortable enough dancing impressively on stage, maintaining the excitement. All night, boredom was an impossibility. Even during these instrumental breaks, Ellery seemed laser focussed on the task at hand, be it decoratively splaying her hands in the air or squatting and clutching the mic stand like a predator in some of the more menacing passages of music. Further away from me, a shadowy Skye cowered over his synthesisers, the humble mastermind behind Jockstrap’s compelling soundworld. The occasions he peeked out his shell for a moment singing lead vocals on the apex of a few songs felt momentous.

Most of the time the genres were harder to define than Greatest Hits‘ retro soul or Acid‘s sumptuous R&B. Debra, for example, sounded like a deeply disturbed Macarena, technical vocal melodies meandering over stuttering, harsh drum grooves. A lyric as heavy and profound as “grief is just love with nowhere to go” was immediately followed by a gleeful “press Y for a party!” and, stood right next to the booming speakers, it felt like I’d dived deep into a dark fever dream where the music made no sense but compelled me to move with the group nonetheless. By the time the utterly bizarre (yet inspired) Bollywood strings entered, it felt like I could have been on another planet entirely.

The remarkable Robert pushed Jockstrap’s craving for musical rulebreaking to its logical extreme. Baleful deadpan spoken vocals (“you’re provoking me, Robert,”) were all the more potent over Skye’s earsplittingly loud synth bass, before a tumult of rapid hip hop, screeching sirens and clanging percussion. “I am very impressed,” Ellery spoke during one gap in the melee with ice cool nonchalance, and witnessing it all, it was hard not to be impressed by the sheer intensity of the performance. It was a nonsensical cacophony, but helped by Ellery’s earnest performance, it was a treat to dive into the chaos.

Ellery’s stage presence was strong throughout

Despite all the full-throttle weirdness, the calmed, reassuring sound of real instruments on the classical music that began the night wasn’t completely inappropriate for an act as sonically varied as Jockstrap. Glasgow, for example, ends with a stunning passage of soaring strings alongside a sorrowful acoustic guitar melody that was loudly belted out by the keen fans behind me, and an opening harp played on keyboard by Skye was just as pretty. Similarly beautiful guitar ballad What’s It All About? was one of the highlights of the duo’s recent debut album and here the luscious strings accompaniment remained charming, as did the inventive harmonic progressions. It was a shame that this time an overbearing bass sound was a detraction rather than a benefit for such a light, serene track. Neon‘s transition from ominous folk to head-banging noise rock was exciting to witness in the flesh, although the big moment was crucially let down by mistimed lights and Ellery’s guitar strap slipping off.

It wasn’t until the transcendent Concrete Over Water near the end of the set that Jockstrap finally struck that perfect balance between chaos and calm. A serene, sparse verse gave way to a strangely affecting, sporadic synth hook that was miraculously controlled by Skye who, head bowed over a synthesiser, resembled a wizard casting a powerful spell. Throw in a stuttering, militaristic snare beat and haunting strings, and the result was one of his most alluring amalgomations of sound to date. Ellery also had plenty to give to the track, namely through a truly remarkable set of lyrics that shone brightest during the stark and vulnerable piano-led middle section, her melodies reaching for the heavens. As the song gathered pace for a final chorus and Ellery took to her violin for a spectacular instrumental, it seemed Jockstrap had discovered the perfect song to cry or dance to. I’m sure many in the audience were doing both.

Intense stage effects were a key element of the performance

And still, the pair had an ace up their sleeves before their brief encore and departure. 50/50, indisputably the biggest banger of their career, began with a brutal pummeling of dance bass and swirling synths, repurposing Belgrave Music Hall into a nightclub from hell. Soon enough we were chanting away to the non-sensical, yelped lyrics (“ah! eh! oo! ee! ah!” was one of the best vocal earworms) before Skye’s choppy drum machine intensified yet again. The mere act of the musician jumping from behind his keyboards and throwing his arms up in the air expectantly was the spark that ignited Belgrave. Soon enough I was engulfed in a viscious mosh pit, our hands reaching up to a furious looking Ellery as she reached back, our fingertips inches apart. Bodies collided and sweat flew as Ellery, doused in stage smoke and flickering in and out of view under kaleidoscopic strobe lights, bent double and screamed the words almost directly into our ears. The catharsis was so strong, any understanding whatsoever of the words we were yelling was unnecessary. My experience of live music had never been so intensely visceral.

50/50 was so all-consuming, returning to the real world outside after follow up I Want Another Affair felt like a shock. It felt like such an experience needed to be somehow mentally processed before I moved on to the task of finding my way home. Fellow fans clutching bright pink signed vinyls on the train platform seemed understandably too stunned to speak. Committing to a song so completely takes its toll, both physically and emotionally. In one sense, Jockstrap’s music had been a challenge to my musical open-mindedness, with its jarring electronics and unpredicatable chord changes (if indeed there are any chords to speak of). However, stood a few feet away from a spellbinding Georgia Ellery, loving their music was easy, a simple act of letting go and allowing whatever feelings that arise – be it rage or peace, joy or pain – to manifest themselves. As the lights dazzled my eyes and the copious mist washed over me, it felt only natural to lean into the beautiful chaos. Lost in it all, I’ve never felt so alive.

Skylights live at Whelan’s review – lads on tour have the place bouncing
24
Oct

Carried by a wave of support from a large and boozy entourage of travelling fans, Leeds locals Skylights seemed to be having the time of their lives on a one-off night in Dublin. Who cares if their music wasn’t very good?

Iknew I was out of my depth as soon as I asked for a drink at one of the many bars in the gloomy upstairs quarters of Whelan’s, one of Dublin’s most renowned drinking and live music establishments. “J2O? What’s J2O?” the bartender replied, appearing genuinely baffled by my request. “And first of all, have you got a ticket?” he followed, pointing at the visibly annoyed ticket steward behind me that I had just unknowingly sauntered past. I apologised and awkwardly loaded up the ticket on my phone. Back at the bar, I settled for a Coke (not available by the tap, but a few bottles in stock), relieved that at least this beverage did indeed exist on this side of the Irish Sea.

A general feeling of discomfort stayed with me for the whole night. I had spontaneously taken a cheap flight out of Leeds Bradford Airport that morning, embarking on my first ever trip outside the UK alone mostly for a thrilling but comfortingly short new adventure, although there’s surely no more familiar and pleasant foreign destination for a Brit than Ireland. Standing alone in a dark corner of Whelan’s cradling my glass of Coke, I began to feel my age as the Guinness flowed around me, the drinkers invariably twice my age.

Yet, I waited in Whelan’s with the credentials of one of the main act’s ultra fans. Skylights are Acomb, York lads after all (although their allegiance these days lies much more strongly with Leeds, and Leeds United football club in particular), and I even found myself falsely telling Belfast support band Brand New Friend (after an exceptional performance) that I had travelled abroad just for my beloved Skylights, just like the many men around me who were already warming up with chants of “Leeds! Leeds! Leeds!”. The chants only grew louder and the men more lairy, culminating in a roar as the four Skylights lads appeared from the side of the crowd. Raised beers replaced the raised iPhone cameras I had become used to seeing at the bigger gigs I had attended back in England.

The four-piece wasted no time bashing out their hits, endearingly excited and pumped up for their first ever gig outside of the UK and a rare outing beyond the realm of Leeds’ vibrant indie music scene. Particularly with so many football fans around me, the gig felt bizarrely like an exciting non-league cup tie – Whelan’s is hardly Wembley, but this was still the beloved hometown heroes making the journey to the big, unfamiliar city, kept company by their most loyal followers. Skylights are certainly non-league musicians; bassist Jonny Scarisbrick works at a building society during the day, guitarist Turnbull Smith is an electrician. The surreal thrill of travelling to a different country and playing your homemade songs for a modest but enthusiastic crowd of 100 was evident on the musicians’ faces, not least Smith, who seemed to spend the entire gig beaming from ear to ear. Frontman Rob Scarisbrick was the most outwardly nonchalant of the group, only releasing a smile on the many occasions a tipsy man emerged from the crowd to give him a fist bump mid-song.

Amongst all the boozy fervour for the band in that cramped room in south Dublin, it would have been easy to overlook all the musical flaws had I not been standing aside from the main action in the crowd, arms crossed with my 330ml of Coke. The truth is, Smith only really seems to have one guitar riff up his sleeve: a sort of washed out, Oasis rip-off that felt tired from about ten minutes into the set. Scarisbrick was hardly charismatic as a frontman, often taking breaks in vocals to stand well back from the mic and stare blankly into the mid-distance, waiting for his next cue and extinguishing all the on-stage energy in the process. It was a relief on the occasion he picked up a tambourine and gave it a bash to keep himself occupied in the breaks. Drummer Myles Soley was undoubtedly the most technically accomplished member of the group, but got into a habit of overplaying just to prove it: too loud, too many fills and not enough solid groove to bring out the best from the three men in front of him.

And yet, of course, no one seemed to care, and excitement amongst the crowd built steadily through the band’s catchier numbers like Enemies and What You Are, culminating in a glorious finale of dancing and beer sloshing. I’ve never witnessed an atmosphere at a gig quite so merry; this is what indie venues like Whelan’s live for. The band’s debut single YRA in particular tore the roof off, and for once I could begin to understand why. With a bit more mainstream attention, Scraisbrick’s straightforward, instantly unforgettable hook could quite easily find its way into the chanting repertoire at Elland Road, and Whelan’s was certainly packed with fans who had already learnt all the words by heart. A simple song structure and even simpler three chord loop leant the song the same appeal as a cheesy but loveable Eurovision entry – everything in me said I should dismiss it like all the other forgettable Britpop songs in the set, but I found myself soon getting swept up in the mindless joy of the music. YRA would certainly flop in the professional jury vote but dominate the televote, and I wasn’t complaining when the band decided to milk the adoration of the crowd and reprise the song for the end of the show, in probably the first genuinely unrehearsed encore I’ve ever seen.

With the gig wrapped up, Skylights headed for backstage via the audience right in front of me (it was that sort of venue) and I had time to give them a quick pat on the back, ditch my empty glass at the bar and swiftly take the next bus back to my hostel, keen to spend no longer than necessary in the uncomfortable surroundings of people in their forties getting plastered (Scarisbrick promised a long night of partying ahead as he left the stage). It hadn’t been an altogether brilliant night – I tended to watch all the action rather than attempt to get involved in the mayhem as I would usually do with familiar company in more familiar venues – but, as my solo adventures tend to be, it was a great way to make new memories and venture a little out of my comfort zone. I may not be the Skylights superfan I professed to be but, as the band’s following continues to grow, I’ll still be proud to say that I was there the night our York lads played Dublin.

Jacob Collier live at O2 Apollo review – in a league of his own
25
Jun

Charming, effervescent and incomparably brilliant at every instrument he can get his hands on, Jacob Collier’s performance was a treat to witness in the beautiful surroundings of the Apollo, even if his catalogue of genuinely great original songs remains frustratingly slim.

Pacing through Ardwick Green at high speed on a mild June evening, my phone hardly stopped buzzing. I had not seen any of the three friends I had planned to meet during my long and somewhat stressful journey into Manchester (a certain Mr. Ed Sheeran turned out to be responsible for packing out every car park within a 10 mile radius of the Etihad), but we were minutes from meeting at Apollo, having each travelled from various cities in the north of England. It was a relief to spot frequent gig buddy Emma in the fast-flowing queue and even more of a relief to survive the scrum at the bar and take our place inside the magnificent theatre (still the best venue I’ve set foot in, although my experiences of last time I visited may have coloured my opinion.) The pair of us worked hard to convince one another that our spot towards the back wasn’t a bad one (the Apollo’s sloped floor worked wonders), although friends Fionn and Matt were rightly smug with VIP tickets and a front row spot.

Regardless of our location, we could all feel the excitement in the air. Manchester was stop 47 for British jazz superstar Jacob Collier on a mammoth world tour, calling at everywhere from Bogota to Bangkok, Stockholm to Seoul. Tickets were sold a year in advance, and Collier is yet to get around to arranging an end date for his vast calendar of upcoming shows. For those familiar with his music, the massive scale of the Collier tour should come as no surprise. Since getting his break on Youtube as a teenager posting intricate, harmonically advanced a capella covers of jazz standards, Collier has become known for his musical maximalism, trying a hand at every genre and every instrument under the sun and yet never coming close to sounding out of his depth. Often it seems like Collier just doesn’t know where to stop; a 2019 cover of Moon River (a remarkable career highlight) involved roughly 5,000 different takes of Collier’s voice.

It’s Collier’s unparalleled command of musical harmony, however, that has created an enthusiastic fan base full of fellow musicians evangelising over his boundary-pushing use of microtonal voice leading or application of brainy theoretical concepts such as negative harmony. Emma and I stood agog as the man himself burst onto stage – inexplicably full of energy after performing the same show over and over for several months – before exploding into opener With The Love In My Heart, a headlong dive into Collier’s idiosyncratic world of sonic surprises and unstoppable creativity. As with much of Collier’s music, it threatened to become overwhelming – dancing in polymetre is hard – but Collier’s infectious vivacity and restless stage presence just about held the hot mess of a song together. At one point Collier acquired a tambourine and rushed to the front of the stage, freed by his Broadway-style headset microphone, his hands a blur of tiny cymbals and his ever present beaming smile perhaps even more dazzling.

Thankfully, Collier’s urge to pack evidence of his musical knowledge and ability into every last song is sometimes contained in subtleties. Feel was a sublime, quiet RnB moment, performed with a sort of precise sloppiness, with every rumble of the bass played ever so slightly late to owe the song a remarkably deep, instrinsic sense of groove. On the night Emily Elbert was a great selection as lead vocalist, delving into the gentle vibrato with breathtaking poise. Refreshingly straightforward folk song The Sun Is In Your Eyes was another clear highlight of the night, with Collier restricting himself to a single acoustic guitar. The result, with its intricate instrumental flutters and equally delightful melody and lyrics, was simply beautiful.

The quieter moments helped big, dense numbers like Saviour and In My Bones feel more manageable in their smaller chunks. Saviour in particular was enormous fun, with Collier flexing his piano and keyboard muscles over a meaty jazz fusion groove. A staggering, if a little long-winded, drum battle between Collier and Christian Euman ensued, with Collier eventually calling it a day and lobbing a drumstick at the gong hung high above his head at the back of the stage. He hit it squarely and perfectly in time with the end of the song; of course he did, he’s Jacob Collier.

Evocative folk tune Hideaway, an early hit for Collier and still his strongest melody by far, was unleashed early in the set. A sprawling, squiggly synth solo thrown into the middle was a discombobulating thrill, and the final payoff into a reassuringly familiar verse was immense. Hideaway‘s magnificence and charm unfortunately highlighted the lack of similar compositional magic in the rest of Collier’s discography. The special ingredient of the best musical compositions isn’t dense harmonic knowledge or technical proficiency; there’s beauty in honest simplicity too, and so far Collier has only fully realised this once.

With the concert drawing to a close, Collier took it upon himself to introduce his band between songs. This was of course fair enough, but patience began to wear thin when a heartfelt cascade of compliments for each of his five members was followed by yet more heartfelt compliments for the members of Collier’s extensive touring crew, each of whom were invariably “the best blank on the face of the planet”. The applause for each and every hard-working member of the team (the Spanish assistant manager, the Italian lighting engineer) grew weaker, and at one point a man behind us blurted out “get on with it!”. It was rude, but we could see where he was coming from.

Eventually, and with all momentum lost, somewhat incoherent pop track Sleeping On My Dreams got things back underway to start the big finale. Collier’s form returned for the encore, which finished with a remarkable moment of crowd participation. Emma and I found ourselves performers of a stirring three-part choral piece, with each part moving note by note according to Collier’s onstage gesturing. The musically literate crowd certainly helped Collier pull it off, but the stirring sound of the 4,000-strong crowd nonetheless made for perhaps Collier’s most accomplished performance of the whole night. There was something genuinely moving about the way the three melodies rose and fell in turn, the audience suddenly becoming the act, Collier our genius puppet master. A proud final applause was for ourselves as much as it was for the man on stage.

There was a hectic few minutes in the aftermath of the concert as Emma and I found our way to Fionn and Matt, stumbling across several music friends and friends-of-friends along the way. Collier’s visit to Manchester had given rise to a great gathering of the north’s young jazz musicians, and I was amongst several large groups of young people strolling back to Picadilly, frantically discussing the highlights of the show. This wasn’t just a gig but a social event to be cherished, and it’s hard to think of a musician – even within the UK’s thriving jazz scene – that can excite such a large pool of young jazz fans the same way Jacob Collier does. As Collier may say himself (although he’d be too humble to admit it), there’s no musician on the face of the planet quite like him.

Undertone’s artists to watch for 2022
7
Jan

It’s been a great year here on Undertone. Now that 2021’s recaps are all complete, Alex Walden is here to guide us through the artists ready to take 2022 by storm.

It’s that time of year again. We’re all taking down our Christmas decorations and gearing up for the next year. Congratulations on making it through another year. This past year was a crazy one for music. We saw the return of some greats including J. Cole, Drake, Kanye West and, for the first time in 6 years, Adele. Yet, despite these amazing artists coming back, what can’t be ignored is the impact that the new wave has had on this year. Artists such as Jack Harlow, Lil Nas X and Doja Cat have managed to show us that the new wave of talent is here to stay and that the idea of artists coming and going is a thing of the past. There were also some new artists on the scene last year have still got room to grow. To that end, I present to you my top picks of artists to watch out for this year. Whether these artists will blow up this year remains to be seen, but these artists are currently very underrated and their careers far from finished.

Coshise

We’re kicking things off with a solid choice from Florida’s own Cochise. Originally from Jamacia, Cochise moved to Florida when he was young. It was there he would learn to play drums for his church choir as well playing soccer in his spare time. Upon discovering hip hop, Cochise started making music in college whilst trying to become a teacher in Japan until suddenly his songs blew up all over social media to the point where people had begun to leak his songs. Don’t get me wrong, leaking music is 100% wrong. Having said that, I was even more excited for the release of his hit song Tell Em after hearing the leaked snippet of the song. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one thinking like this, considering that the snippet had managed to gain so much hype that upon its release Cochise (and featuring artist $not) managed to bag themselves a music video from none other than the Quentin Tarantino of new wave music videos, Cole Bennet, who published the video on his Lyrical Lemonade channel. The song Tell Em is undoubtably one of the best upbeat tracks of last year. It features all the necessary ingredients for a perfect song to get you hyped up, with prominent use of 808s, a memorable hook and a smooth melody. Cochise has managed to find the perfect balance of hip-hop, trap and dancehall and has managed to infuse into his tracks to create a new psychedelic sound which will definitely serve him well in 2022.

VANO 3000

Next up is a choice that I know all my producers can get behind. VANO 3000 has repeatedly shown off his skills when it comes to finding and flipping samples. I originally discovered VANO 3000 very early this year when he posted clips of him and his friend flipping samples in his old truck. I remember falling in love with the vibe of watching two people just mess around on an old SP303 and have fun while seeing what they could come up with. VANO’s sounds always come with an extra dosage of good vibes which became widely recognised during last summer when VANO flipped a sample of BADBADNOTGOOD, which began to spread all over TikTok rapidly. The sound managed to bring a huge wave of nostalgia across adults and teens on the platform, and thus the Adult Swim trend was born. There are currently over 654,000 videos on Tik Tok alone of people using VANO 3000’s sound to bring their own version of Adult Swim bumps. This quickly became arguably the biggest trend on the social media platform, considering that I was seeing these kinds of videos on all of my social media, not just TikTok.

As of now, VANO has since released a fully polished instrumental of the Adult Swim sound as well as a couple beat tapes here and there. Looking at his social media, it appears that he thinks that his best bet at striking it big again is to make another track to bring back the Adult Swim trend which if I’m honest, I don’t see it working out because the only downside of this new age of the internet is that trends die out just as quick as they rise on social media, but I could be wrong. As far as his albums go, I find myself listening to TMS 2.0 often in my spare time. I look forward to seeing to what this man has in store for us next, considering I can never turn down a good sample flip.

Ryan Librada

Up next, we have probably the smallest artist I have on this list, giving a whole mix of sounds ranging from lo-fi to rock, Nevada’s own Ryan Librada is sure to go far in the future. Being a skater myself, I discovered Ryan on the YouTube channel Luis Mora, a cameraman and filmaker for the Erasedxproject clothing brand and skate crew. With over 1.56 million subscribers at the time of writing this piece, it’s safe to say that his work speaks for itself. The way he uses only one or two songs for a back in track for his videos is a great way to discover new tracks. I first heard the song RENO by Librada on a Tokyo night street skating edit. The song gives you a typical chilled out lo-fi vibe, yet it’s not like any lo-fi song you’ve heard before. It has a more upbeat feel to it when you add in the lyrics and drum style.

After this I began discovering songs such as Love Again and Down Bad and I couldn’t get enough of them. The 2010s rock guitar riffs mixed in with the modern trap drums puts an amazing spin on a genre I hold very dear to my heart. It took me back to my younger days when I would discover new songs from skate games I used to play.

Considering that Ryan Librada started making music just last year, it’s very clear that he’s not reached his peak yet, there’s a lot of potential that he is yet to discover, and it does show sometimes in his work, although I doubt that it will take long considering that every song he makes somehow improves in overall quality. I’m definitely excited to see what heights this artist can reach in the foreseeable future.

PinkPantheress

Let’s face it, you knew she was eventually going to be on this list. PinkPantheress has already been able to master the art of building a fanbase that desperately craves more of her short yet snappy style of music (let’s not forget that classic overly enthusiastic “hey” that we all love). Despite having previously written about her, she’s still making big progress as an artist. Since the release of her debut EP, PinkPantheress has had multiple interviews, including one with the internet’s busiest music nerd himself, Anthony Fantano, as well as the company Complex. Despite these major events, they are minor compared to the fact that she has also embarked on her first three live performances. Located in London, PinkPantheress decided to have three relatively small performances following the release of her EP. In her interview with Complex, she explains that she decided to choose to perform in relatively small venues due her thinking “it’s important to do intimate shows before you move on to the bigger ones. It’s a completely different atmosphere at smaller shows”. Clearly PinkPantheress knows to take things slow to ensure she doesn’t end up becoming one of those artists that just come and go. I still think that she is the biggest “what if?” artist of this year. She has the potential to bring a new wave of sound to mainstream media, yet there’s still that huge “what if?”: what if she doesn’t capitalise on her newfound fame?; what if this is her peak and she quickly fades out of the spotlight? Despite the suspense of her future as an artist, we can guarantee that she is bound to release very highly anticipated work in the near future.

Knucks

Finally, we stick to the UK for this artist. There’s always the ongoing debate about whether hip hop as a genre is nowhere near as good as it used to be. (I find this debate extremely annoying as all you’re doing by saying that is proving that you listen to the wrong music). In the UK this debate still rages on as the mainstream trap genre of UK rap has a heavy grip on the UK scene. However, one artist who definitely challenges this whole concept is Knucks. Hailing from North London, Knucks is easily becoming the biggest rapper you should know about. It’s honestly rare that I find an artist that is this talented that isn’t absolutely huge yet. I remember one day looking for new songs to add to one of my playlists when by luck, I stumbled upon Knucks’ single, Los Pollos Hermanos. I was amazed by how well this man was able to flow upon a beat. It sounded almost effortless, as if he was gliding upon the beat. After a couple listens, I quickly became intrigued as to what else Knucks could come up with, to which I found his album, NRG 105. I was amazed at how amazing this project sounded coming from an artist so small. The majority of songs on this project don’t even have over a million streams on Spotify yet they deserve so much more. However, one song sticks out from all the rest. With over 15 million streams as well as 9 million views on YouTube, Kucks’ shows off his storytelling and incredible flow on his hit track Home. With tag lines such as “can’t you see London’s burning, and you can’t duck this smoke” which will definitely be stuck in your head, as well as an amazing use of instruments ranging from pianos to saxophone, Home shows that Knucks is destined to become a force to be reckoned with in the UK scene. Considering that Knucks already has two albums and multiple singles under his belt, there’s not really much else you can ask him to perfect his craft even more. Honestly, I think Knucks has potential to make it mainstream as long as he keeps it consistent, he’s bound to go far this year.

So there you have it: five artists you should definitely look out for in 2022. Whether it’s that post punk era sound you’ve been missing for years or that fresh new flip of an old soul sample, I hope these artists give you the joy of listening to someone new that I experienced. Who knows who or what we’ll discover this year? As I’ve shown, this year I was introduced and re-introduced to multiple new sounds and genres that I’m glad to have found. Regardless of what happens, we can always assure that in the world of music, we’ll end up with a pretty good result.