Best New Artists of the Month: February 2014

An exciting new Australian artist seems to pop up every other day at the moment, and Thief was one of the very best new artists we discovered in February. He manages to balance pop appeal and top-notch production quality with elements you don't usually hear from chart-toppers, and can write one hell of a chorus—just listen to "Closer."

Find out more about Thief here.

With all the retro, '80s influencing pop and R&B going around at the moment, you really have to do something special to stand out, and Shura did just that with her warm and seductive debut track "Touch." Of English and Russian heritage (her mother was, according to the press release, a Russian actress who turned down a role in Goldeneye, believing James Bond to be anti-Russian), it was after going to university in England that she started writing songs, and we are so lucky that she did.

Find more Shura here.

Royce Wood Junior's debut track "Nuff" is stunning. It is a glorious mess of rich vocals and skewed production, half throwback soul and half experimental electronics, and has us very excited for Royce Wood Junior’s debut EP, which will be announced soon. Interestingly, Royce lives with Jamie Woon, and with those soulful vocals and a faint sense of nostalgia or sadness, "Nuff" could easily fit into Woon's 2011 album Mirrorwriting—a compliment if there ever was one.

Young & Sick is from the Netherlands, based in Los Angeles, and the first thing you'll notice about his work is that all his visuals are on point. He's an artist, and his illustrations and designs create a strong aesthetic that sets the tone before you even press play on his music. That's all worthless if the music is shit. Luckily for us and Young & Sick, the music is not shit.

His earlier songs are pop/soul with a bright electronic tone, but his latest is way more upbeat and probably his best yet. Young & Sick's self-titled debut album comes April 8 via Harvest Records. Listen to his newest song, "Glass," below, and check out more here.

Any fans of The xx who have played Coexist one too many times will be happy to discover Australian band Twin Caverns, and specifically "undiscover." The subtly devastating songwriting and beautiful webs of sound coming from the Sydney duo of 22 year old Louise Millar and Michael Macia belie their relative inexperience, and have is keeping a careful eye on their next moves.

Brooklyn-based Mas Ysa released his debut EP Worth in February, and now is the time to get familiar with is heartfelt music. “Shame,” the standout song from the EP, has the same sort of heart-rending, emotionally raw vocal performance as some of Autre Ne Veut’s best songs, but the production here is much weirder, starting in gentle, glitchy electronic territory and eventually exploding into a pounding cacophony of drums, synths, and vocals.

Don't sleep on Boston. Chicago and Atlanta have been staying in headlines as hip-hop's hot spots at the moment, but Boston's got more than just Sammy Adams. Michael Christmas offers up some humor with a smooth style and an effortless delivery. His mixtape Is This Art? is solid from start to finish, his videos are great, and Michael Christmas understands that a little personality goes a long way. All rappers don't have to be characters, but in today's climate it's impossible to stand out unless you're unique, and Christmas makes his individuality clear.

Aquilo is Tom and Ben from the UK's beautiful Lake District, and their music seems to reflect the sweeping beauty of their home region. "You There" is a dreamy pop song that starts with little more than piano and vocals but grows and grows into something much larger, and with an EP out soon, we're excited to hear more.

HUNTAR has gone for the old mystery approach to press, sharing only his age (21), place of residence (Peckham, South London), and the hazy picture above. Let the music speak for itself, he would probably say, if asked, and in this case we are more than happy to.

"Expectations" contrasts bass-filled production with HUNTAR's poppy vocals for a song that is left-of-center enough to hold interest but accessible enough for most people to enjoy.

Nick Hakim swiftly followed our Daily Discovery introduction to his soul-bearing R&B sound with "Pour Another," his best song yet, and one that will feature on his upcoming debut album Where Will We Go. It is a twinkling, slow-burning beauty with absolutely gorgeous production and all the bewitching qualities that point to Hakim being a masterful songwriting.