Industry news & advice blog

Time to dive into a fresh batch of tunes from our emerging members! Check out what April Spotlight has in store...

Novatines – ‘Silver Screen’
Heavily influenced by 60s and 70s sounds, Novatines have weaved a modern day twist through those vintage inspirations, not to mention lashings of loud and trashy guitars, transforming the song from tranquil and nostalgic to riotous and rebellious within seconds.

Named as “the UK’s hottest new guitar band” by Louder Than War, Novatines have also enjoyed support from BBC Introducing In The West for both singles they’ve released so far.

Just returned from their first UK tour, which took the Bath four piece from Plymouth to Scotland, they have some hotly anticipated support slots lined up for Tears For Fears, The Stranglers and Billy Ocean.

Other than that, their focus is strongly directed towards writing new material, and they plan to unveil their next single in early May.

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Chloe Foy — ‘Flaws’
It has been a bit of a crazy start to 2018 for Gloucester-born singer-songwriter, Chloe Foy. After being selected to play at this year's SXSW festival, she has spent the last few months raising funds and making sure that everything was in place for her to make it across the globe in one piece. After a week in Austin and a string of well-received shows, Chloe is back on home turf and promoting her latest single, 'Flaws'.

A swirling atmospheric introduction lowers you into the world of Flaws, taken from Chloe's debut EP, 'Are We There Yet?'. This easing into the track is brave and refreshing in the Spotify generation of '17 seconds and then chorus' songwriting. Her slow-burn style proves that there is still room for delicacy and patience in the world of Pop. This gives the song a dreamlike quality, something that Chloe confirms is a deliberate move:

"My lyrics are often quite abstract and this song is no different. It focuses on themes of mental ill-health but doesn't have a specific story attached to it. I like things to be up for interpretation and ownership by the listener."

A lot of credit also has to go to her backing band, with the gradual layering of strings, guitar and harmonies colouring in the gaps perfectly without sacrificing the directness of the vocals.

After leaving her impression on one of the world's most renowned festivals, Chloe is understandably keen to keep the ball rolling. She is back in the studio shortly with the hope of releasing some more music in the late Spring, followed by a European mini-tour in Autumn. If you can't wait until then, you can catch Chloe performing at The Ned's 'New Music Mondays' on the 9th of April.

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Kalpa — ‘Wrong Faces’
Formed after meeting at Bath University, Kalpa serve up shiny, shimmery Dreampop Indie with a side plate of guitar riffery. It is still early days for the five-piece but luckily they already had the suitable beards, glasses and hair-dos in place - and now they have a cracking debut single to boot.

'Wrong Faces' was born out of some front room noodling from guitarists Rory O'Rourke and Jamie Walford before making its way to the practice room for refinement. The track is infectious without the need for repetition. Just when you think you've clocked which way the song is heading, Kalpa find a way to wrong foot you and keep you on your toes. The variation of the drumming is particularly impressive, sewing together the jangle of the guitars to the warmth of the synth and bass beautifully.

If you're starting a Dreampop band, it is probably easy to fall into the trap of trying too hard to be a Dreampop band and forgetting to actually make good songs. If Wrong Faces is anything to go by, it doesn't look like Kalpa will be running into that problem any time soon. They also don't consistently write their name in capital letters, which is nice.

The band are planning a small UK tour to go alongside the promotion of their forthcoming follow up releases. Keep tabs on their social media for announcements - be patient and push play on Wrong Faces in the meantime.

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HAIZ – ‘Talking Sh*t’
For anyone who’s ever been lied to, HAIZ has created the ultimate way to express your feelings in song form. Embodying dark infectious pop, synthy sass and feist, with a nice balance of profanity to really get out your frustrations, ‘Talking Sh*t’ is guaranteed to exorcise those demons.

The London singer songwriter is starting to turn heads, racking up an impressive 60,000+ plays on Spotify. With blog praise tumbling in too, it’s not too much of a stretch of the imagination to think of ‘Talking Sh*t’ drifting out over the Radio 1, Capital or Kiss airwaves – the radio edit, of course!

Keen to work on and release more new material, HAIZ has another single planned for later this month, so keep your peepers on the links below.

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Speak, Brother – ‘Magnificent’
Drawing comparisons with Matthew & The Atlas, Mumford & Sons and Bombay Bicycle Club, the five-piece Speak, Brother do a fine job of creating uplifting and anthemic indie-rock tinged with folk, and even subtle hymnal and gospel tones.

Not only have the chaps from Rugby had plenty of airplay on BBC Radio 2, they’ve also performed a live session on the station. They’re rolling in Spotify plays with over 200,000 ranked for their track ‘Lion’s Roar’, have clocked in performances at The Great Escape, Wychwood Festival, a support slot for Julien Barbagallo of Tame Impala, and have even completed their own headline tour.

With album ‘Young & Brave’ about to drop on 13th April, produced by Gavin Monaghan who was worked with The Sherlocks, it seems the stars are aligning for Speak, Brother. If you can’t wait until 13th April, check out a cheeky album teaser here:

Their brief album tour also kicks off this month visiting Glasgow, Manchester, Worcester, London and Birmingham so get those tickets booked!

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How can I get featured on the Spotlight blog?
Our Spotlight blog is compiled every month from fresh new music submitted to us by our members. We want to hear from you! We select 5 of the best tracks from our members, so if you want to be in the running you’ll need to sign up to The Unsigned Guide then follow the instructions in your Welcome email to submit a track for Spotlight consideration to us.

As well as being featured in our new music blog, your track will also be played on our monthly Amazing Radio show and also forwarded onto music industry professionals including folks from Big Life Management, Club Fandango, Decca Records, Memphis Industries, Rocksound, Spotify, DIY Magazine, Transgressive Records and The Great Escape. Find out more about Spotlight here.

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