Best New Artists of the Month: January 2014

Los Angeles pop duo MVSCLES aren't exactly brand new. A year ago, they put out two songs and they generated enough attention to catch the interest of a powerful label. “We’re not supposed to say who or give specifics,” Cat, one half of the group, explains. “It’s part of the terms of being free with the rights to our music. Basically, they wanted to add songwriters and producers to our music. When we said no way they shut us out. They also wanted to change our band name. We had an identity crisis for a bit. We spent months having to stay quiet as a band and in the dark with our label. Chad worked as a mover."

For a year, the duo was stuck in a deal and weren't allowed to release music. "We kept polishing the productions and songs all year," Cat says, "and finally after over a year of being trapped they let us go. We’ve never appreciated the ability to release our music as much as we do now. We feel so thankful.”

So they're back, and to many, they're brand new. Judging by their playful comeback single "somethin," they'll be getting more label attention in 2014. Hopefully this time it works out better.

The stunning, spacious, heartfelt "Station" was the first we had heard from 17-year-old singer and producer Låpsley. It was a fantastic introduction to her soulful electronic style and had us immediately digging into the rest of her music, which is just impressive, especially the varied, refined Monday EP. Having this many strong songs at this young an age is certainly surprising, and gives us high hopes for the young singer's future.

Though Sylvan Esso first landed on our radar this past fall with their impressive debut 12" “Hey Mami / Play It right," it's clear with their latest single "Coffee" — and a proper album due out this spring — the duo has quickly become a band worth paying attention to in 2014. Amelia Meath’s drafty vocals and Nick Sanborn’s sparkling touches meet at a perfect intersect of folk and electronic, showcasing a confidence with experimentation that's not only surprisingly natural, but also undeniably exciting.

Lowell’s music is an energetic mish-mash of sounds. Rooted in bubbly pop but executed with a punk rock, mischievous edge, "Cloud 69" was an impressive introduction to the Toronto native's sound. Lowell listens to Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, LCD Soundsystem, and Animal Collective, but she grew up on the Spice Girls. “That probably explains the bubblegum on top,” she told us. “Pop is pretty amazing right now. We went through a bit of a rough phase recently, especially in radio, but it’s starting to pick back up and become more innovative. I can’t wait for next year because despite the shit press, everything pop is going to sound like Yeezus. Amen.”

Lowell's debut EP, I Killed Sara V., is set to drop on February 25.

The Derevolutions’ introduction to the world has not been your typical path to mainstream awareness. The first time many people heard them was in a viral ESPN commercial. Since then, instead of getting a manager or attempting to monetize the music, mastermind Brett Boucher has decided to continue releasing free music on SoundCloud. The lively, sample-heavy music continues to impress, and Boucher is confident, explaining to us, “Time will tell. If my business model turns out to be as futuristic as my songs, then I’ll do alright.” He's based in Boston, and he's setting up a band and a live show now, so expect to hear more from him soon.

In today's hip-hop culture, sometimes it's difficult to stand out. With nearly everyone jacking each other's flows and relying on the same producers, sometimes it can all become a bit jumbled and static. So when we happened upon New York rapper Leikeli47's new mixtape Lk-47 pt. II earlier this month, it was a refreshing surprise. For now, the details behind the identity and background of Leikeli47 are sparse. We know she's from somewhere in New York, this isn't her first mixtape and she's uploaded a few videos to YouTube, she's got a Tumblr, and favors the Odd Future aesthetic (ski masks and bandanas). The woman behind the disguise, though, that's anyone's guess. 

But frankly, not knowing who Leikeli47 is has kept the conversation largely on her music—a rarity as we've come to see with most women rappers. With her multi-layered sound, Leikeli47 is at once a relentless lyricist with a gun aimed at the target on your head and fantasies of an all-girl gangsta squad ("Carolina got a razor," "Christina might tase ya"), as well as a controlled, silky vocalist. Her influences are across the board. This mixtape has tastes of New Orleans bounce, New York City boom-bap, dancehall, R&B, and punk rock all packed in a 36-minute collection of 15 tracks.

Leikeli47 fits nicely between Tyler, The Creator and Azealia Banks and if she gains anymore mainstream exposure, either of the two would be an easy collaboration. Whether she keeps up her anonymity remains to be seen, but if she stays dropping solid tapes like this, we won't complain.

It's an exciting time for Tom McClung, who was the bassist in WU LYF before the band split up at the end of 2012, and then went on to form Los Porcos with former bandmates Joe Manning (drummer) and Evans Kati (guitarist). Now, he's going solo as Francis McClung, and his debut release, consisting of "Selfish Man" and “Tsunami Blues (Cause of Me),” shows two sides of his sound. "Selfish Man" is a bright, immediately arresting piece of guitar pop while "Tsunami Blues" takes four minutes of hushed reflection to reach its powerful conclusion. With a debut album on the way, expect to hear a lot more from Francis Lung this spring and summer.

The two songs on LA/NY trio Dessert’s Soundcloud mix styles and genres with willful abandon, jumping from soft pop reminiscent of Fyfe straight into a gritty drop that Lil Silva would be proud of, then on to the sort of screwed, electronic R&B that Jai Paul made waves with. It’s very easy for this type of genre-mashing to sound forced, or reveal a band that has yet to really discover their own identity, but that is not the case for Dessert, who are coming with something refreshing and unique for 2014.

Listen to both songs below, and pray for more from the mysterious duo soon.

Look, we know Kyan is not a totally new artist, in fact we posted one of his videos all the way back in April of 2013, but since then the singer has been very quiet, and he seems to be approaching 2014 as the year to really introduce himself, with his official debut single "Rosetta" coming out in March, to be followed by an EP, The Purple Experiment. Backed by a remix from Kingdom, Kyan's "Rosetta" shows us a singer with a warm, welcoming voice who demonstrates the ability to write catchy, direct songs that are accessible without being basic.

It's early days yet, but Kyan lies somewhere between Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, and is well set to capitalize on R&B's current popularity.

It's extremely difficult not to make a bad pun when writing about LA producer AWE, because his music is just so AWEsome but instead we should stick to talking about why we love him, and why he's one of the most exciting producers we heard this past month. AWE's most recent track, "Crystals," is an epic cacophony of bright synths, relentlessly upbeat and fizzing with energy, and immediately calls to mind the sound of Rustie’s Glass Swords album from 2011. If his forthcoming productions stay on this high level, 2014 should be extremely kind to the young producer.

Ed Thomas has already collaborated with talented artists like Bondax and Chase & Status, but is only know releasing songs as a solo artist, starting with "On My Own" and "Hurt." The former is wears its '80s influences with pride, but the better song, "Hurt," sounds more current and modern, slotting right in with the new wave of soft R&B with subtle electronic production. The song is no cheap knock-off though—with a fantastic chorus and a beautiful, yearning verses, "Hurt" has us looking forward to more.

There are already so many Swedish singers making noise right now. Luckily, there is no such thing as too many Swedish singers. Plus, Adna is not your typical Swedish songstress. At the beginning of the year, the 19-year-old moved to Berlin, and when asked if Scandinavia has an impact on her sound, she says, "I'm not sure if it was present, before moving or now."

It's an interesting response, because so much of the music coming from Sweden right now is catchy, upbeat pop—it's surprising given the frigid darkness associated with Scandinavia. Adna's music is not upbeat pop. Adna may not be directly influenced by the country where she was born, but her music sure does feel cold. With sparse string accompaniment, "Night" is dramatic and serious, and the marching "Dreamer" livens things up with drums but keeps that solemn tone, grounded despite Adna's airy, fluttering voice.

Her debut album comes February 5 via Despotz Records.

It seems almost impossible to just start writing about Tweens without first addressing the band's name, so [insert snarky comment about band's name here.] Tweens are from Cincinnati and they make punky garage pop that they call "trash pop." It's a style that probably has a pretty low ceiling in terms of mass consumption, but since it's done this well and is backed by Frenchkiss Records (The Antlers, Bloc Party, Les Savy Fav, The Drums, The Hold Steady), Tweens have a good shot of being a standout act in the 2014 indie circuit.

It's one thing to produce captivating music; most producers worth their weight in external hard drives can churn out a beautiful piece of music. It's rare that someone can improve upon music from championed producers like Four Tet. This month, we were properly introduced to Emerson Twin, who took Four Tet's "Angel Echoes" and injected his own quirk and vibes into the track, bringing forth something that both hip-hop and electronic music heads could feel. And while this isn't his first rodeo, you get the feeling that this remix is his proper emergence onto the scene. The question, or better yet the onus, is whether he can continue to blow minds on this level (or higher) in the coming months.