Here are the four up and coming indie artists that we can’t stop listening to right now!
The Thing With Feathers
The Nashville quartet, The Thing With Feathers, have released their latest single, ‘We’ll Be Fine’ which was produced by Kyle Dreaden (Parachute) and mastered by Brian Lucey (The Black Keys, Liam Gallagher).
‘We’ll Be Fine’ is the band’s final standalone single before they begin promotion on their debut EP produced by Owen Lewis (Lady Gaga, Snow Patrol).
Inspired by hope for the future, the track comes at the perfect time as we begin to feel a breath of fresh air from this pandemic.
This feel-good track is bursting with exhilarating rhythms, infectious guitar riffs, high-energy breakdowns and joyful vocals.
It is the kind of track that makes you feel on top of the world and transports you to a packed-out gig venue where you can dance and sing the night away.
“I had the idea of a conversation with someone you’re flirting with and you start talking about the potential of what your relationship together could be. The imagery plays into what their relationship might look like,” says David Welcsh, the frontman of the group.
“It’s a coy, cocky, romantic character that is trying to convince someone to spend the night with him by welcoming them into his imagination and what he hopes their future together could be.”
“By the end, that future has consumed him and it’s no longer really about just spending a night together. It’s about the hope of finding love.”
To keep up to date with the latest news from The Thing with Feathers, you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To listen to their latest releases, head to YouTube, Soundcloud and Spotify.
Rafaèlla
After more than 90,000 streams and worldwide press, radio and podcast support, Cypriot singer Rafaèlla has released her heart-breaking debut album sincerely, me.
Now based in London, Rafaèlla started releasing her own music in the beginning of 2020 with her debut single ‘Nobody Knows’ and sad pop anthem ‘Broken’.
Her following singles ‘Liar’, ‘In Another Life’ and ‘Big World’ revealed different parts of her personal story and led to Rafaèlla’s first UK radio debut.
“I’ve spent around 1000 sleepless nights trying to get my thoughts out of my head. I’ve been writing ‘sincerely, me’ for years now. The whole album is a storyline, a message, everything I didn’t get the chance to say to my first love,” says Rafaèlla.
The entire album is deeply personal and vulnerable and reveals all the pain she felt at a particular time in her life. It beautifully showcases Rafaèlla’s incredible talent as a singer and songwriter.
Rafaèlla and her team also decided to film all parts of the creation process and have shared a 5-part documentary about sincerely, me.
To keep up to date with the latest news from Rafaèlla, you can follow her on Facebook and Instagram. To listen to her latest releases, head to YouTube, Soundcloud and Spotify.
ANATÉ
‘3am’ is the brand new single from the downtempo act Anaté, which is made up of singer-songwriter, Ana, and producer and songwriter, Andrea.
The track is the fifth self-produced single to be released from Anaté’s debut album, Confessions. It was recorded in Andrea’s private studio in Milan; it was mixed by Simone Coen and mastered by Giovanni “Meniak” Nebbia.
‘3am’ is an edgy track arranged around Ana’s warm and sultry voice and the production is centred around a live set with drums, bass and piano, with sparse electronic elements.
The soothing vocal lines, confessional nature of their lyrics and atmospheric melodies are reminiscent of Massive Attack, Morcheeba and Hooverphonic.
It combines organic instrumentals with modern electronic effects in order to achieve the duo’s unique sound, a nostalgic feel with a contemporary finish.
“3am talks of that moment at the end of a long night when ‘the vision gets blurry as the music fades’ and it’s ‘too late to leave alone’. It is a sexy and intense song, describing one of those magic moments where we all have been,” says Ana.
To keep up to date with the latest news from Anaté, you can follow them on Facebook and Instagram. To listen to their latest releases, head to YouTube, Soundcloud and Spotify.
Sunflower Summit
‘Metronome Heart’ is a new heartfelt track that has been created collaboratively by singer-songwriters Sunflower Summit (Maria Requena) and Lace & Grit (Ginine Mizerski), and producer Brian Skeel.
The track was recorded and produced in three different home studios – Chicago (Sunflower Summit), Washington State (Lace & Grit) and Ohio (Brian Skeel).
For ‘Metronome Heart’, the key inspirations for the track were Taylor Swift’s song ‘Cardigan’ and Chris Thile and Madison Cunningham’s song ‘Our Way to Fall’. The trio was very drawn to the intricate feeling of these songs and wanted to incorporate this in ‘Metronome Heart’.
A track born out of quarantine, ‘Metronome Heart’ is about disillusionment. However, rather than focusing solely on the negatives, it is about finding the positives during life’s more challenging moments and remembering what you are grateful for.
It’s a subtle kind of empowerment and the track builds right up to the final moment and reminds us to enjoy the simplicity of cold coffee and just being alive.
The song is mellow and full of sweet harmonies, swirling soundscapes and evocative lyrics. It perfectly conveys the sense of building yourself up and reminding yourself of the good in life when you hit a low point.
“Metronome Heart was written in a piece-by-piece kind of way, each of us trading verses and voice memos over messenger over the span of a couple of weeks, and the demo was made in a very similar fashion.”
“Writing in this way required a lot of trust in each other and respect for one another’s work, and I think that’s why this song is so unique. We were able to create something beautiful, honest, and real because we believed in each other so much,” says Sunflower Summit.
To keep up to date with the latest news from Sunflower Summit, you can follow them on Facebook and Instagram. To listen to their latest releases, head to YouTube, Soundcloud, Bandcamp and Spotify.
Follow Up&Coming’s Indie List Playlist to listen to all the tracks!
by Eveline Vouillemin ©