Chastina ThamFrances, Alan Walker and Jonas Blue are our top picks of new British artistes to watch in 2017.
Touted as the new Adele, Sophie Frances Cooke is blessed with warm, emotive vocals which have won her praises among scores of music critics.
The 23-year-old British singer-songwriter goes by her middle name Frances. She made her debut in 2014 with the EP Grow, and released her second EP Let it Out in June. Her new collection of confessional tracks has earned her a growing number of listeners, as well as nominations for the BBC Sound of 2016 and the Brit Awards for Critics’ Choice. Both awards are meant to recognize breakout stars in the music scene.
Although Frances lost the awards to another contender Jack Garratt, she’s happy to have been nominated alongside other young and promising talents.
“It’s so cool and it was amazing – just to be included with all those new artists,” Frances told The UrbanWire after she performed at the National Gallery Singapore in June.
The piano-trained Frances started writing her own songs from the tender age of 12. Growing up a quiet girl, Frances didn’t quite foresee that she would one day be performing her own songs. But she’s certainly gotten used to the limelight now that she has many singles under her belt and a new album slated for release in October.
Check out one of her singles “Don’t Worry About Me”.
British-Norwegian Alan Walker started making music on his laptop when he was 15 and released his first single “Fade” on YouTube in 2014.
In Nov 2015, he released “Faded”, the vocal version of “Fade”. The electric dance single topped the charts in Norway and Sweden and went on to become a hit in the US, the UK and Australia. The British Phonographic Industry also awarded “Faded” with a Platinum status for clocking up 356 million views on YouTube.
The 19-year-old has released another popular single “Sing Me to Sleep” this year, but there are no words on his debut album yet.
Check out “Sing Me To Sleep” here:
British musician Jonas Blue released his first single, a tropical house cover of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 single “Fast Car” in January. He soon shot to fame when his cover peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, trailing just behind Zayn Malik’s “Pillowtalk”.
“Fast Car” also topped the iTunes charts in Australia, Sweden, Germany and New Zealand as well as the US viral chart on Spotify, with close to 400 million streams on the digital music service.
The 27-year-old has released another single “Perfect Strangers” this year. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Charts. His music has often been praised for its blend of dance and pop sensibilities.
Check out “Perfect Strangers” here: