Some of my best childhood memories are dancing around my room listening to my chunky silver CD player surrounded by a party of soft toys and Sylvanian animals. I would burn tracks onto CDs with the help of my Dad, creating explosively colourful album covers on paint. It was all about S-Club 7 (and later S-Club Jnr).
As I reached the end of primary school, I received the best Christmas present of all time. A tiny iPod Nano, complete with a range of silicon covers. A colour for every outfit and every mood. Long car journeys to visit family and friends were suddenly revolutionised. Anti-socially plugged-in and blissed-out, staring out the window as the angsty voices of JoJo and Avril Lavigne flooded my ears.
My adolescence played out to the soundtrack of husky male voices as puberty encroached. A life size poster of Justin Bieber, in a thick black Ikea frame, covered the groovy-chick wall stencils of my innocent years. Boy bands were having their moment, Busted, McFly, JLS, and then, of course, One Direction.
A few years later and I like to think my music taste has improved and the Justin Bieber poster is (sadly) long gone.
Looking back at my seasonally categorised playlists from 2019, I realised it had been a year of discovering female voices.
The music industry is slowly starting to recognise the female talent they have reserved a very limited space for in the past. Music festivals are finally introducing equally weighted male and female line ups. We’ve got a long way to go but if the up and coming female sounds of last year are anything to go by, it’s going to be a fun ride.
Future Sounds
Casier’s 2019 Essentials album was one of the most underrated releases of the year. The Danish producer and song writer has a completely unique sound, but after just one song it is one you won’t want to ever be without. A triple threat her talents as a singer, songwriter and performer are paramount.
Top track: Little Bit
Instagram’s punk princess and love interest in a couple of Justin Bieber’s music videos, Russo is an undeniable cool girl. Her music blends pop with grunge and is continuously evolving. Definitely a sound for summer.
Top track: Pink Sand
L Devine At just 22, the last two years of Olivia Devine’s life have been a whirlwind whisking her from a seaside town in Newcastle to the streets of London, Warner Bros record deal in hand. With two Eps under her belt, she’s just getting started. But her melodic pop can already name Charli XCX as a fan and she’s co-written songs for Rudimental and Icona Pop. Devine’s on a mission to make pop cool again, and I’d say so far, so good.
Top track: Naked Alone
One of BBC Introducing’s most exciting new artists, Rose Gray’s songs are simple and stripped back. She cites her influences as Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse, which you can definitely hear in her music. She’s arty, creative and far from commercialised. It’ll be exciting to see what she does next.
Top track: High Again