In addition to your usual mid-March ritual of avoiding anyone named after Julius Caesar and pretending that the green dye in your beer makes it taste any better, add musical discovery to your to-do list. It’s the week of SXSW and there is no better way to celebrate the untimely demise of a Roman dictator than with fresh, new music. So, without further ado, I would like to introduce you to our first edition of Undercover Artists.
Our first featured artists hail from Califournia. The Neighbourhood is a band with no publicly known story. Just about the only things we know about them are the fact that they create music and have an affinity for British-English spellings of things. Fittingly enough, they took the music scene across the pond by storm, being classified as one of BBC Radio 1’s artists to watch. The band’s website is very minimal, showing you their most recent music video, their music releases, and a tour schedule. If you were to check their facebook page, you would see the same minimal sort of information presented. They consider their pop infused rock stylings to create a genre all its own, known simply as “Black & White.” Without the distraction of an over-the-top backstory, all that is left is the music.
From Santa Barbra, we head to the opposite corner of the country. Our next band, the Ambassadors, are based in Brooklyn. They have been playing together for years. Their debut LP Litost was actually recorded upwards of two years ago, but is just beginning to receive some much deserved acclaim. The band takes musical stylings similar to those of the Lumineers and Kings of Leon and creates a sound that is welcome and refreshing for spring time. You can take a listen to their full LP below and view their full Soundcloud page to hear some pretty gnarly cover songs.
Our next brotherly duo comes to us from Australia, land of wallabies, koalas, and devastating wild fires. Atlas Genius is a band who put the cart before the horse and actually made it to their destination. They decided to build a studio together with their father, before ever performing together as the two piece band you see today. They performed with a cover band to pay the bills, while writing music and building their dream studio on the side. It was important to have a space that they felt comfortable recording in, prior to them ever even putting together so much as a demo. Their music offers a unique alternative rock edge that is sort of a mix between Minus The Bear and Vampire Weekend. You can take a listen to a six song preview of their debut album below, and find more goodies on their Soundcloud page.
Our last artist is a choir boy gone electronic. St. Lucia grew up performing in the chorus during his childhood. He says that he always knew that music was what he ultimately wanted to do. He traveled from his home in South Africa to Liverpool to study music composition and has now found himself in New York, in the tradition of so many artists before him. His music entrances with light, airy synths, balanced perfectly with his crisp vocals and mesmerizing drum kicks. You can take a listen to his self-titled EP below and hear different remixes he’s created on his Soundcloud page.
