Lightning Surlaw - BBC Sound of 2021 - The Reveal!

the purple tin wrote: »

I got more an 80s vibe off them- Madness with a touch of Police and the Specials.

ME! wrote:

1. Alfie Templeman - Forever Isn't Long Enough
He's 17???!!! That's actually depressing. Why am I so old? Quite like the music in this, verses are good. Chorus is a little flat compared to rest of song but still, if he wrote this himself then it's disgusting that this came from a 17-year old. Oh how I wasted my youth.

2. BERWYN - Vinyl
Voice sounds vaguely familiar....who is this reminding me off? "Never got to send my Granny away" made me go WTF? at first but makes more sense in the rest of the context of the song. This one has a bit of a story in it anyway. Pretty nice, has a memorable chorus which some of the others are sorely lacking.

3. Bree Runway - APE****
Definitely hear some Missy Elliott in the voice. Is there a sample in this - that descending scale when she says "ain't shÃ*t, ain't shÃ*t..." sounds familiar. Anyway this is pretty crap, not interested in listening to this again.

4. Dutchzilla - Bando Diaries
Rap not really my thing most of the time. Like this guy's deep voice though. HAd to look up the lyrics to get what he was saying, I'm not 'down with the hood' so lines like "I made her whip majj with a kitchen fork" went over my head. Meh, it's grand I guess. It's short, so has that going for it.

5. girl in red - rue
Had high hopes for this based off the description but it's a bit meh. It's not bad, perfectly listenable but was hoping for something better. Seems like an album filler track more than a single. Maybe it's a grower but after two or three listens I find it underwhelming, which is a shame because lo-fi Nordic female singers are normally my cup of tea.

6. Green tea - Hu Man
"Ma stripped me naked" - well that escalated quickly! Interesting voice, suspect it's one of those that's nice in small doses but gets a little grating after a while (e.g. Amy Winehouse, who the Youtube commenters seem to like comparing this to). Like all the things going on the background here, it's well produced.

7. Griff - Say It Again
Nice voice, another one that sounds vaguely familiar, like it's reminding me of someone else but I can't think who. This one's a grower, the song itself didn't really grab me initially but picked up by the end, and on the second full listen it clicked. Very nice.

8. Holly Humberstone - Falling Asleep at the Wheel
Getting London Grammar vibes from this one, voice isn't as deep but musically this is who this is reminding me of. The synth at 2:17 picks it up a bit, could've done without the Imogen Heap-esque vocoder bit after but that's only a small part. On first listen this was the only one I could imagine myself putting on a playlist for regular listening. Actually, on second listen, I'm thinking Lorde now moreso than London Grammar. Either way, very good track.

9. The Lathums - I See Your Ghost
Arctic Monkeys crossed with Madness is what I'm getting from this – his delivery is very similar to Alex Turner, even if the accent is different. But there's a ska-like tempo in the background, and I'm not usually big on ska. Overall this is pretty decent though.

10. Pa Salieu - My Family
No idea what he's saying in that first verse. His delivery is.....unusual. I think this one just went over my head a bit - 'tis far from the backroads of rural Ireland so I can't really relate.