We Plug To You... Stuart Newman

Mellow Indie Folk/Rock singer Stuart Newman is a largely self-taught musician. Starting out first with a piano and a guitar, he began writing songs and experimented with his home recording techniques during his University years. His music is reminiscent to the chilled-out but soulful Folk and acoustic music of America and he could be described as a miscellaneous mix of Elvis Presley and Nirvana. His musical influences range from The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Radiohead to Feeder, Queens of the Stone AgeGreen Day and My Chemical Romance.

We Plug To You... Yuna - Yuna (Album Review)

The beautiful YUNA has finally released her self-titled US debut album! First off all, I have to apologise for having slept on this album for quite a bit. I received this album a good week and a half ago but only listened to it about four days ago and no lie, it has been all I’ve listened to since then. The 25-year old Malaysian singer, songwriter and musician came on our radar last year with her US-released Decorate EP after signing to the FADER label. She quickly caught the attention of critics and fans alike across a wide spectrum with her beautiful music and heart felt lyrics.

We Plug To You... PJ Morton - Follow My First Mind EP

We plug to you singer, songwriter and musician PJ Morton with his most recent body of work, the 7 track EP titled Follow My First Mind (FMFM). PJ Morton recalls his musical upbringing in New Orleans where he was born and raised as having greatly influenced his musical style and allowed his talents to be early nurtured and developed. His first dive into music was with a band called Freestyle Nation which started right after Morton graduated from college. Over the years, the band went on to receive minimal recognition, however during this time Morton's stock as a songwriter/producer was beginning to rise in the industry and in no time, he already had a Grammy Award to his name.

The Best NEW & EMERGING Music - Week 12 & 13, 2012

And JUST like that, the first quarter of the year is well and truly gone! 2012 is not waiting around for anybody it seems and as we draw ever closer and closer to the Summer time and all the music festivals that come with it, I hope we all have our tickets and Wellington boots ready! Our Best New Music of the final two weeks of the first quarter range from UK Grime to Indie Pop to Brit Soul/R&B to Hip-Hop to Experimental so let's get right into it, shall we? Week TWELVE (19/03/12 - 25/03/12) and week THIRTEEN (26/03/12 - 01/04/12) of 2012 produced these entries into our Best New and Emerging Music series...

We Plug To You... Wilson - Painted on Silence EP

Introducing emerging Brit Soul Singer/Songwriter Wilson with his debut EP, Painted On Silence. Hailing from North London, Wilson has been singing his entire life with performances starting from as early as primary school and according to his Facebook page, his influences range from the late great Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston to Stevie Wonder and Donnie Hathaway among others. Wilson, who is a University graduate of Commercial Music, has performed at some of London's famous venues such as the Jazz Cafe, Hackney Empire and the Royal Albert Hall over the years but Painted On Silence marks his first public foray into the world of recorded music. Read on to find out what we thought...

We Plug To You... Stacy Barthe

Hey folks! Apologies for the hiatus, but I’m back with an artist that you just have to hear about. I like to consider myself knowledgeable about music but it looks like somehow this Singer-Songwriter missed my radar last year.

She recently made it on to our Best New & Emerging Music list and with no further ado I present to you, Singer/Songwriter Stacy Barthe. Like most songwriters who transition into performing artists, Stacy’s first EP Sincerely Yours came about by her wondering what would happen if she answered the calling she felt within to create a personal work of art and to perform her own songs. Following that successful EP from 2011, came the birth of her most recent work In The Inbetween which was released in February 2012. Below is an excerpt on Stacy from her official website.

We Plug To You... NOSA

When a song sticks to you and won’t let go, it just will NOT let go - it keeps playing in your head, in your mind and in your sleep - in a good way. That’s how I describe NOSA’s (full name Nosa Omoregie) songs - it’s like a hug you don’t want to let go off. I don’t know if it’s his voice or his lyrics, his depth or the soothingness of his sound or maybe it’s all of the above; he is such an effortless and natural singer/songwriter and it is with great pleasure that we plug to you this refreshing and unique Nigerian inspirational neo-soul singer/songwriter - NOSA.

We Plug to You... Keaton Henson - Dear...

OK, I’m sorry but I just can’t seem to start this article in any of the conventional ways I know. I mean, right now I’m listening to a song by our featured artist and I just feel so compelled to talk about it right now! I just can’t wait to introduce this artist to you and we’ll get to that in a minute but first we just have to talk about this masterpiece of a song - which by the way is not on the album I'm featuring/reviewing (heaven knows why) but is none the less still worth PLUGGING!

"The Drowning" is the name of the very first song I am plugging to you from this artist, and not to sound too morbid or anything but if I was going to commit suicide or "drown" myself, it would have to be to this beautifully depressing song! I literally pressed play and that was it - I was utterly captured in his description of his shipwreck of emotions. He describes the love he shares with this person as an old weary boat, and how the water is gushing in and he’s more likely to drown but for her love, it’s worth it!!! If the film Titanic was cool instead of corny, it would have had this as its soundtrack. "The Drowning" - backed only by acoustic guitar strings - is so honest and deep, that it physically hurts to listen to but you just can’t bring yourself to press the stop button. The stillness in your mind it creates is just something out of this world and it’s almost like you would be quite happy to just sit on this boat he sings of while it loses its battle against the waves and just happily drown! I could really go on and on with my not so comprehensive descriptions of "The Drowning" but it might still never quite hit home so you literally have to press play below, perhaps more than once!

We Plug To You... Martyna Baker - The Demo's

I first heard and saw Martyna Baker back in the Autumn of 2009 - it was a showcase for BBC Sound of 2011 nominee Daley, she was one of the two supporting acts to open for him - and despite the annoyingly noisy crowd and reception at the otherwise intimate Ruby Lo venue in London, Martyna Baker, along with her guitar, delivered a beautiful selection of acoustic songs that simply just blew me away. Unfortunately or otherwise, in the two years that have proceeded after that performance, I haven't seen or heard much of Martyna or her music except for news of an odd gig here or there but fast forward to this week and all that seems rather irrelevant because Ms. Martyna Baker has - out of nowhere - gone and released a short but sweet "introduction" if you will of her music to her wider audience by way of a 5-track EP simply titled Martyna Baker - The Demo's and can I just say right off the bat that it's an AMAZING debut EP from the London-based singer, songwriter and musician - without question!

We Plug To You... Lucy Rose

22-year old singer, song writer and musician Lucy Rose grew up in the country side and spent her early teenage years learning how to play the saxophone, piano, guitar and drums in the basement of the family house. By the age of 19, she made a run for London and started off singing in little rooms above pubs to a highly inebriated audience night after night. It wasn't long before her unique voice and songwriting abilities captured the ears of true fans which subsequently increased her gigging and put her on the radar. She’s been on the scene properly since the start of last year, is under the management of Black Book Management - who also manage Razorlight and Ghost Cat - and is currently supporting Ben Howard on his UK-wide tour. Lucy’s voice alone is capturing but coupled with her heart felt lyrics and beautiful melodies, her songs are just magical. She sings Acoustic/Folk/Pop in a way that keeps you captivated no matter what genre of music you are into. Here are a few tracks that made me an instant fan of Lucy Rose!

We Plug To You... Ben Howard - Every Kingdom

Last week (October 3, 2011), one of my favorite artists so far this year and - in my opinion - one of the best new artists of 2011 released his debut album via Island Records. Born and raised in Devon (United Kingdom) and with a certain penchant for classic 60s and 70s singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Richie Havens which he picked up from his very musical parents, this 24-year old British "acoustic troubadour" and "keen surfer" dropped out of a Journalism course at Falmouth College (six months before graduation) in 2008 to pursue music full-time.

The outcome - three years down the line - is a recording contract with the label home of the likes of legends such as Nick Drake and John Martyn, a BBC Radio 1 playlisted single in the very excellent "Keep Your Head Up" which we will explore much later, an army of devoted followers that have led to numerous sold-out headline gigs in not only the UK but also in France, Germany and Holland and a fifty minutes long 10-track debut LP that is one of the BEST ALBUMS OF 2011... His name is Ben Howard and the album is called Every Kingdom.