‘K T Tunstall is the first obvious comparison when you listen to Jem Cooke. The English answer maybe? But we are not here to compare and contrast, Jem is surely soon to be THE unsigned female artist to be heard singing at the heels of the current ‘best’. With a voice to soothe and compel her audience, she sings to the sound of crisp guitar played by ‘Dangerous Dave’. Now living in London after a short time in New York, Jem is on the fast track to fulfilling her dreams of fame and the big stage. She’s definitely one of the best voices I’ve heard in a while. Definitely worth checking out.

Lady and The Lost Boys fuse beautiful heartfelt vocals with instrumentation that is so tight and full of ideas that they surely can’t stay on such a small stage for long. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this band live at an intimate venue, and the atmosphere they created was nothing short of intense. The rapport the band have on stage makes their live performances a cut above most unsigned bands/artists around. If you haven’t already seen or heard Lady and The Lost Boys I strongly suggest you look into it.

William describes himself as an indie/acoustic/folk rock artist. He is a multi-instrumentalist, completely self produced, and has a penchant for including such multifarious elements as pianos, banjos, melodicas, clarinets, flutes and electronic elements in his music. He often includes experimental, intimate and family subject matter in his writing. He has toured with Cary Brothers and toured and recorded with Ingrid Michealson, whose vocals are feature on his most recent album. William is currently touring and preparing to record his third album. His records can regularly be found on the iTunes top 50 folk albums chart. He’s definitely worth checking out.

Unlike other groups, each member of THE SHAKE is schooled in a different style of music, and draws from a wide pool of influences including rock, blues, jazz, and punk. The result is what they call “a constantly evolving, more musically diverse style of rock that utilizes distinct melodies and harmonies in order to maintain a straightforward and familiar feel that still sounds fresh.”
For the new album, the band chose to take a different approach to their songwriting. “On the last album, we chose to just throw down whatever lyrics came to mind for the song. This time, we decided to take a bit more time with them. The songs themselves are very upbeat and exciting but have lyrics that are more mature, which we thought was an interesting contrast.” This band have a great, unique sound and I can see them getting far! I wouldn’t be surprised if their songs get stuck in your head for days. Watch out, these guys are going to be big!

Mariday are an Alternative/Progressive female duo from New York. Their music fuses catchy melodies, heartfelt lyrics and dreamy instrumentations with a great vocal delivery, which shows a likeness to artists such as K.T Tunstall and Beth Gibbons (of Portishead). I was hooked instantly to these girls, and I think they have a great deal of potential!

The Age of Rockets are a great Indie / Rock / Classical trio from New York, and they have one of the most unique sounds I have heard for a while. They fuse intriguing vocal harmonies with bright string parts and powerful drums. They are reminiscent in many ways of The Postal Service, however they still maintain their own strong musical ideas, creating a sound which will blow you away. I’m still in shock at how good these guys are, and they are not a band to be overlooked!