2018 has been a busy year. The amount of new releases we managed to get a listen too was so big that everything felt a bit overwhelming. Because of that there were some songs that got away during this year, that really shouldn’t have. This is our rendition to those songs.
Joel Taylor – Give Myself Away
LA-based and Sydney-born multi-instrumentalist Joel Taylor has gone around the world with this good-vibe music. In Give Myself Away it’s easy to understand why. Very easy to love, Paolo Nutini like, the vocals sound like an instant hit, and the video is perhaps the best we’ve seen all year (taking a bit of the Coffee and TV Blur vibe). A song with so much good vibes that it won’t take you until the end of it to sing it out loud.
Steven A. Clark – Feel This Way
We’ve said so many good things about Steven A. Clark since 2016 that we included in our original ten to follow list when we first lunched WtMM. His debut album turned out to be one of the albums we more often play at our home, and probably the main reason why is because his music is just intrinsically rhythmic and comfortable and his vocals very tender and melodic. Because of that our expectations for new releases were huge, but Feel This Way did not fall short. Working perfectly as the introduction to his second album released last September, this is once again, a banger.
Callum Pitt – Away From The Rousing Parades
Callum Pitt has his own very distinct way of captivating us with just some few words on a melody. That happens again on Away From The Rousing Parades his 5th ever single. Americana infused of folk and ever growing in pace, this is a track that sounds storytelling with a bunch of dancing steps. Also true about this song is the fact that we’ve been listening to it from 1 month prior to its release until today and we’ve yet to be full of it. And that’s why you should have your way with it too.
Dana Williams – Worst In Me
We’ve featured Dana Williams so many times (here, here, here, here) this year that it seems ridiculous that we still felt in owe regarding her.Well, Worst In Me is a song we’ve been about to talk about the whole year and never ever quite found the time. Once again the vocals are out of this world, and keep making us wonder how it is possible to combine power and tenderness in such a way. Singing about a failed relationship and how that consumed her, it never quite feels sad but quite honestly gorgeous from head to bottom. The song, and her.
Conor Gains – I Know
The debut solo release from Conor Gains is a soulful wonder that we feel we are still to grasp completely. I Know sounds a bit like the original John Legend songs but with a more alternative and Matt Corby like vocals. Gently evolving throughout and keeping us surprised at every turn. Jazzy and blues are merged perfectly and modernized in a way that the track sounds both modern and very well rooted in past influences. I Know grows from beginning to end, until it pause itself in the end like a beautiful and exciting present.
Jules – Before You Picked Her
Out of nowhere came Jules. Owner on some impressive vocals she was that one song we kept listening again and again until we take it for granted. Sounding like a Tove Lo on steroids or Adele on speeds, Before You Piked Her is not only a pop masterpiece but also a song that will sound great every time you hear it, and also in 5 or 10 years. We challenge you to not to party hard with it. We can’t.
Coleman Hell – Killer
At the time we heard Coleman Hell’s single Killer for the first time he was not yet the sensation he is now. That means we probably lost the train in the beginning, but we never failed to acknowledge all the virtues in this powerful song. From the get-go this is a track that hooks you up and that sounds like the perfect pop-tronic showcase. Not only the song has a super catchy electronic infused melody but it also has the vocals to back it up. Asking for some powerful remixes to be played in every single disco around the world it also fulfills every indie-pop taste as it is. And the subtle variations are enough to make it sound like a no-brainier and a feet-moving killer.
FYE & FENNEK – Dark Lights
Proceeding with nice pop vibes, the German Fye && Fennek released Dark Lights about 5 months ago and since then we are still to find a flaw in it. This is a song about chasing youth and sense of freedom and feeling eager to exchange innocence for excitement and that is obvious by the lyrics. But what we enjoy the most is the way it condenses electronic elements that are now a mainstream pattern without sounding just another song; the way the vocals sound raging melodic; and how everything sounds explosive in the right way.
P.S. We know, we should have posted about them shouldn’t we?