Music is my life, and luckily enough, it’s also my job. In addition to being your resident music guru, I am also (perhaps unsurprisingly) the Gainesville College Marketing Representative for Sony Music Entertainment. Yes, the job is as awesome as it sounds.
Every year, all 70 college reps stationed across the country journey to New York City for our department’s annual meetings, which serendipitously land about the same time as CMJ Music Marathon.
In this whirlwind of a week filled with panels and performances, I get a healthy heap of industry knowledge and the inside scoop about the hottest artists coming around the bend. I know the new signings and developing acts who, this time next year. will have me saying “I knew them when…” Guaranteed.
Share these artists with your crew, and watch how you’re dubbed the in-house DJ in your friend group overnight.
MS MR
There is something so dark, and yet so charming, about MS MR (Miss Mister).
The chillwave duo’s debut EP “Candy Bar Creep Show” is melodic and haunting, a romanticized nightmare composed of four addicting tracks. The group’s moniker is self-explanatory — MS refers to the vocals, and MR refers to the music.
Lizzy Plapinger, co-founder of Neon Gold Records, provides the lead vocals stuck in your head. MS MR’s respective elements are perfect complements of each other, just like yin and yang. Lizzy’s beatific vocals echo and brighten the chilling, synth-pop instrumentals.
Whether the band is preaching the fate of the world, an abandoned soul and body or unseen creatures, it’s easy to get lost and twisted in their sound.
The two project something much bigger and more bombastic than their size would imply (check the first single “Hurricane” for a perfect example of that), and as a very important side note, their live performance shakes, rattles and rolls. Whatever images MS MR has stirred or inspired in your imagination definitely come to life on stage.
Paloma Faith
Forget triple threats, Paloma Faith is a quadruple force to be reckoned with. Faith is the UK-born singer, songwriter, dancer and actress who hit the scene in 2009 with her debut album “Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?”
She’s entirely theatrical and animated from head-to-toe, and her sound is this eclectic, crossover blend of soul and pop.
Enjoying her style and performance is like time travelling; she’s truly vintage and has the ability to span decades, making her instantly unique from her comparative contemporaries Adele, Emeli Sande and the late Amy Winehouse.
In 2011, Faith earned a nomination for Best British Female at the BRIT Awards, and she closed the ceremony by sharing the stage with Cee Lo Green. It’s clear she’s not only a pulse point for hot up-and-coming singers, but she’s a star.
One of Paloma’s newest singles “Picking Up the Pieces” grieves and mourns a dead love that’s long gone, and half of that love that feels slighted.
Elle King
Careful — I’m pretty sure she bites. But, that doesn’t mean you won’t absolutely love her folky sass.
Elle King packs a punch. She’s a little bit country, a lot of soul and she absolutely rocks.
The beach blonde singer-songwriter is a character, a purveyor of some serious cool with her piercings and natural rockstar attitude. She sings with this unforgiving conviction, and her voice is as gritty, raw and, at times, dirty, as her lyrics are, but in all the best ways.
In “No One Can Save You” and “Good to Be a Man,” she preaches experiences and wisdom well beyond her 22 years.
If you’re into the reality TV thing, you’ll recognize her bluesy old-school crooning in “Playing for Keeps” as the official song for VH1’s “Mob Wives Chicago,” too.
King, who’s Ohio-born and Brooklyn-raised, commands a stage with her guitar and bango, and her distinctive vocals do her unadulterated lyrics all the favors in the world. They’re unique, unlike anything you’ve ever heard and demand you listen to her, whether you’re front and center at her show, almost knocked off your chair from her bellowing power or lingering back by the bar, intrigued by her every word.
It’s a bold statement, but it’s true: “The Elle King EP” is one of the most authentic things you’ll listen to all year, and that includes her saucy live cover of “My Neck, My Back,” which isn’t particularly suitable for the younger crowd, but nonetheless, enjoyable if you’re ready for it.
Jillette Johnson
I’m pretty sure that listening to Jillette Johnson’s “Whiskey and Frosting” EP can subsequently break and rebuild your heart.
I’d bet you’ve never met the NY songstress, but all five songs are an introduction, or really, a retrospective memoir, of the past few years of Jillette’s life and experiences. She wears her heart on the measures of all her music.
At first glance, it’s pretty easy to see she is a gorgeous singer and pianist. Yet, after completing the five-song journey, you learn Jillette is first and foremost a storyteller.
She’s equal parts whiskey and frosting, as her EP’s title suggests, with genuinely raw, bittersweet lyrics. She connects and impacts every listener, making them feel as if her pain is their pain, and she knows their highs and meets them at their lows.
“Cameron,” the poignant first single, speaks of a young man challenged by adversity against his sexuality and image.
My favorite, if only for the perpetual chills it gives me, is “Pauvre Coeur,” in which Johnson paints a beautiful picture of the very ugly, albeit very tangible reality, of an emotionally abusive relationship.
Daughter
One of my fellow college reps said it best — watching Daughter perform live is a spiritual experience. That’s the heart of good music.
The trio hails from North London and began making its ethereal indie-folk in 2010. The whimsical melodies are driven by electric guitarist Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella, and all the while, lead singer Elena Tonra captivates a crowd with her angelic vocals.
Their music seems like it originated from another dimension or universe we only dream of, but somehow speaks of all the things we hear, or choose to ignore, in our heads.
As you dig through Daughter’s lyrics, you see the group doesn’t stray from being vulnerable with their fans. In the groundbreaking single “Landfill,” featured on the band’s EP “His Young Heart,” the chorus is the best example, as Elena not only sings, but confesses “Cause I want you so much/But I hate your guts.”
I’d be selling the group short if I considered the perfectly executed four tracks on the EP merely songs — they’re more like hymns, chants, poems, and prayers, or at least that’s what it feels like.
I watched the group perform an intimate, acoustic set at the legendary Electric Lady Studios. The three members huddled around their instruments, and each other, and showcased the creative synergy they’ve come to cultivate that makes their soothing sound cut far deeper than you’d initially expect and warrant repeat listens of the EP that understands you better than you understand yourself.
