Leeds UK five-piece Goodbye Chanel’s M.O. of dreamy, reverb-washed, indie pop buoyed by skilled hook-conscious songwriting reaches a new apex with “Foreva”. Taken from “Hot City Nights”, the band’s new EP, “Foreva” delivers on a quality and accessibility that should only bolster their profile. “Hot City Nights” is out Dead Young Records on April 21.
Goodbye Chanel
: (Soundcloud)
Rating: 8.4
A recent addition to Glassnote Records impeccable roster are L.A.’s much-lauded synthpop exporters Holychild. “Every Time I Fall”, the band’s latest track for Glassnote, pushes HC’s already airtight pop songwriting considerably forward with it’s cleverly constructed choruses and next level inventive interplays between vocal, rhythm and instrumental tracks. The “Mindspeak” EP, from which “Every Time I Fall” is excerpted, is out March 4th.
Holy Child 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.1
The very good “Collar Up” is new from UK breakout candidate Kate Miller. “Collar Up” orbits about the axis of a dark, rumbling, hypnotic groove, rhythmic melodic lines and a highly singable chorus that is not difficult to envision a house of 1,000 or more shouting back at Ms. Miller. Occupying a similar nexus (vocally, stylistically, aesthetically) as to a number of singer that broke through in 2013 (Banks, Laura Welsh, Chloe Howl, etc); Kate’s alike talent-level and quality suggest a significant move forward this year.
Kate Miller: (Official)
Rating: 8.4
New and from our friends across the pond, Jungle has release their first XL Records single and it reminds us of why we fell in love with this London duo in the first place. “Busy Earnin'” drips of soul and groove from the very first notes struck via horn section. It fits immediately in their self carved formula of short, sweet, and exploding with electronic soul — and of course extremely catchy. Reviewed by Brian Litwin
Jungle 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.4
Working Out is the highly anticipated upcoming debut LP from Arthur Beatrice. The rhythm-driven dark pop of “Late”, puts the female component of AB’s two vocalist setup to the fore, as singer Ella Girardot’s lovely alto is at the track’s center. “Late”‘s excellent use of mood is particularly standout with percussive delayed guitars flitting and weaving as a perfect mechanism about subtle changes and layers in the rhythm track. Working Out is released February 24 on Harvest.
Arthur Beatrice (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
New Harvest (Banks, Arthur Beatrice, Together Pangea, etc) signees Young & Sick debut the kinetic & soulful synthpop of “Glass”. Sophisticated without being self-important, idea-loaded and ambitious while still maintaining an ease and cohesion “Glass” is indie pop of the highest order and demands your attention ASAP. A++
Young & Sick 
(Tumblr)
Rating 8.0
Weeknd collaborator Illangelo links with the uber-talented Rochelle Jordan for the grimy R&B of new one “What The Fuss”. Melodically in lane somewhere between Ciara and the late Aaliyah, Ms. Jordan’s rhythmic and diction choices fit Illangelo’s creeper percussion matrix in a close to symbiotic manner. We NEED more!
Rochelle Jordan
: (Facebook)
Rating: 8.7
New favorite Bo Saris channels pre-“Blurred Lines” R. Thicke and mid-career Timberlake for the falsetto-y love paean “Tender”. Deriving its rhythmic rudder from more classic R&B (Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues” quickly comes to mind), Saris on “Tender” does an able job of merging the classic and contemporary to push his own sound.
Bo Saris 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.49389
The minimalist R&B-influence songwriter genre seems to be here to stay (or is at least a trend with some longevity). Its latest talented purveyor is 23 year old Nick Hakim, who’s sumptuous, soulful, vocal-harmony heavy “Pour Another” is simply stunning. You need “Pour Another” in your life right now.
Nick Hakim (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.4
Essex UK four-piece Secret Company debut the official video for their breakout track “Saviour”. Blending just enough pop sensibility shine (a la The 1975 or Bastille) to give the track the accessibility its anthemic ambitions require, “Saviour” still keeps it c-o-o-l with its of-the-moment layered rhythms and inventively textured atmospheres. We’ve got your B3SCI World Premiere of “Saviour” below.
Secret Company (Official)
Rating 8.2
The stunning “On This Morning” is new from Bristol UK songwriter Oliver Wilde. Spotlessly arranged w/ cinematic string beds, hushed drums & some tunefully interesting countermelodies in the actual live violin leads; “On This Morning” is a stylistically vast and varied (and refreshing) exercise in great inventive songwriting. Red Tide Opal in the Loose End Womb is due May 5th on Howling Owl Records.
Oliver Wilde (Official)
Rating 8.2
And the blogosphere went “sheeeeeiiiittt”. Back in March of last year, everybody’s favorite looks like his name is misspelled R&B star Jeremih collab’d w/ hoodie-wearing languid dark instrumental chief Shlohmo for “Bo Peep” which blew up The Internet, won a Grammy, and became Pharrell Williams’ favorite song. The S & J combination are back w/ “No More”, a grimy moody bit of neo R&B that will put the serious-face head-nod on just about any music bro. We’re into it.
Shlohmo (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
