While Groningen is recovering from a cracking Eurosonic last week, we asked our AB-colleagues who were present to throw their discoveries into a playlist. Enjoy the revelations of Eurosonic 2016 along with us:
Kurt Overbergh (artistic director)
Samm Henshaw
Der Aa Church is a Eurosonic location that’s interior instantly sets the tone. The drawback: the acoustics there are often difficult. Even so, this young British soul singer charmed us all. Forget Curtis Harding. And tell Leon Bridges that he has gained a serious rival. Oh yeah: girls, for once, you may mouth ‘mmmm’ upon seeing him and you’d be spot on… as Samm does happen to be spelt with a double ‘m’.
Dua Lipa
The BBC SOUND OF 2016 is a bit shakey. The colleagues found Mura Masa and Noa to be not yet ripe and Blossoms apparently sounded too well-mannered and a bit wan. Long live the voice of British-Albanian singer Dua Lipa, who managed to turn her barely two-song Spotify-page into a full electro R&B-set.
Woodie Smalls
Local talent first! Certainly when it comes to this Woodie Smalls. Old school hip-hop of the purest sort, that reminds one of the hip-hop heyday in the early nineties. Belgian rappers who could one day cross the border: it’s never happened. But we can pull out the red carpet for Woodie.
Kevin McMullan (press agent)
Rationale
Rationale is British producer-singer Tingshé Fazarkerly with a 4-member band. Catchy, soulful pop with swinging electronica, beats and synths. Their first EP is already making waves on the other side of the Channel, the rest of the world will fall for them in 2016 too.
Forever Pavot
Parisian psychedelica that sucks you into a danceable and mesmerizing filmic trip. Even the flute is fantastic, and that’s really saying something.
Briqueville
We’ve been a fan for a while, but now even more so. Nobody knows who these masked men are but they come from Belgium and will bowl you over with their slow sludge/doom-metal wall of sound. For us, possibly the best concert at Eurosonic… although the late starting time might have had something to do with that impression too.
Da Chick
Nothing new musically, but this Portuguese band’s disco-funk is pretty infectious. Ideal for at a wedding or a summer festival, Da Chick, c’est chic!
Stormzy
MC Stormzy repeatedly informed us he’s from “South London”, apparently that’s a pretty good place to make grime. It sounds dirty and dangerous, Stormzy is clearly often “pissed off”. Stay mad, man!
Joke Daniels (programming assistant)
Black Honey
This garage-rock band with a psychedelic edge from Brighton has a sensual frontwoman who provides a dreamy, catchy note. Partly for this reason, they’ll soon be jumping from just under the radar and out into the big wide world.
Fews
Swedish London-based quartet Fews gets compared with The Jesus & Mary Chain and DIIV. So the code words are post-punk and shoegaze.
They are certainly compelling and bursting with energy live, with a delicious dose of guitar.
Forever Pavot
I agree with my colleague Kevin: more flute!
Briqueville
Why go see Belgians in Groningen, with so many other tasty things on offer? Hey, a girl deserves a treat sometimes. Music that you feel on your insides. Dark, doom and bit dirty. #lekker
Bachar Mar Khalifé
Lots of young talent in Groningen, but sometimes it is simply time for some craftsmanship. French-Lebanese singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Bachar Mar- Khalifé sounded soothing and charming in the beautiful setting of the Der AA Church.
Marcus Deblaere (programmer)
Stormzy
Together with Skepta and J Hus, he fights for the grime-sceptre in the UK and received a serious kick in the rap-butt from Jools Holland when he was the first unsigned rapper to set the ‘Later With Jools Holland’ studio ablaze in late’14. A trick that he skillfully repeated in the good old Simplon in Groningen. Hard, danceable, caustic, angry and yet funny!
Dua Lipa
19-year-old London beauty with Albanian roots who shares her manager with one Lana Del Rey. Enchanting voice, intriguing appearance and tight, catchy electro/R&B pop songs. Single ‘Be The One’ has participated lustily in the Stubru playlist and if we really must compare: Banks meets Rihanna with the 90s-swag of En Vogue.
Alex Vargas
In a world where Jack Garratt is king, this Danish electro/soul bard with a British mother and Uruguayan father must surely be the crown prince. Impressive honeyed voice, that tends toward soul-bathed Jeff Buckley, ideally accompanied by a battery of synths, cosmic guitars, and beats that Radiohead also have on their laptop. On top of that, he has songs that stir the heart: just listen to ‘Solid Ground’ or ‘Till Forever Runs Out’.
Samm Henshaw
“Amazing stuff!” That’s what the gospel- and soul-blessed Samm Henshaw crowed regularly, and he was right. The collected audience could warm themselves upon a fantastic voice in the amazing Aa Church - Otis Redding meets John Legend but then with slightly more whisky consumed and more authentic than the latter - and upon an up-beat young Brit who is master of both guitar and piano. Leon Bridges has gained a rival to be feared!
HVOB
Dark, electronic trio from Austria that does it’s thing with live-drums. Sometimes dark, sometimes rousing but always conjuring the right beat and vibe from the laptop. The female in the group provides the layered compositions with somewhat airy vocals, gasping and groaning and that works wonderfully to get the feet dancing. The xx, we read somewhere, but then aimed at raving hipsters who also very much enjoy Factory Floor. They’re always welcome to drop by AB and bring along their neighbours from Poland again too, the duo Rebeka that almost shook the doors off the AB Club in Sept ’15. A perfect double!
Hype bubble burst?
NAO
Music blog Hype Machine freaked out when Nao from London dropped her debut-EP. The dark beats of Mura Masa are infectiously danceable, but her voice is paper-thin and doesn’t remain interesting for an entire set. She does have the songs though… Give her the benefit of the doubt?
Hyphen Hyphen
Unbelievably catchy and exciting, on bare feet and with an enthusiasm that either makes you very nervous or very cheerful. For us, it was the former… There are all sorts of things going on, there are all sorts of things accompanying on tape, and that makes Hyphen Hyphen leave you with a slight taste of prefab in the mouth. But all who enjoy Florence And The Machine on an electro diet and aren’t turned off by the word pathetic, will welcome Hyphen Hyphen into their heart. More than enough radio hits.
Honne
Electro/soul-pop (the most represented genre at Eurosonic) with live band. All the ingredients are there but it sounds a little too well-mannered and light-hearted. The chemistry between both protagonists is also lacking, so we weren’t really convinced by these Brits. But again: they do have songs. So boys, get out that inner-demon, there can definitely be a bit more mucking around.
Mura Masa
The hype of Eurosonic. As already mentioned, they also provide the beats for Nao and do that exceptionally well as producer. But that’s precisely the problem … Live, he’s a little less than the beat-providers with which he is often compared: eg Hudson Mohawke, Flume, Lido and Cashmere Cat… but, as a 19-year-old, Alex Crossan does of course have many kilometers of margin for progression in that respect. So it’s sure to turn out ok, especially if he keeps manufacturing nuggets like single ‘Love For That’ with the voice of Shura.
