The Night VI - Wonderlust

I very much enjoyed The Night VI's performance at The Great Escape last month (as did the other wonderful music bloggers I bumped into during their performance in Brighton), so any new music coming from their general direction is going to be very welcome indeed in these quarters. Even more so in this case, as their new single sees the band approaching things in a different direction.

In comparison to the elegant pop that one might come to expect from The Night VI on the basis of their previous releases, "Wonderlust" sees the band veer head first into synth-pop territory. Although this aspect of the band has been hinted at before (c.f their wonderful cover of "Music Sounds Better With You"), it's nice to hear their own original take on it. It reminds me a little bit of when Goldfrapp went a bit synth-pop on "Rocket" (no bad thing indeed), and it's always lovely to see a band that embraces the lost art of the ruddy nice guitar solo.

"Wonderlust" will be released on July 22nd.

The Night VI - Sienna

At the end of last year, Anglo-French band The Night VI released a series of covers of classic songs in their own style, including a fantastic version of "Music Sounds Better With You" (which sadly, now appears to have been removed from the interwebs).

The band are now back in familiar territory with the release of their latest single, "Sienna", which has already racked up an enormous amount of plays in the past 2 weeks. Based on a stormy meeting with the ex-partner of one of the band member's girlfriend, the song is a great melding of both tenderness and danceable, and shows just how great a pop prospect the band really are.

"Sienna" will be released on April 28th.

The Metaphorical Boat's Tips For 2014 - The Rest of the World

After looking at our tips for 2014 from our own stomping group, The Metaphorical Boat will now be looking a little bit further afield to look at our five tips from elsewhere in the world.

Given that there is basically an infinite amount of bands to choose from, rounding it down to five was always going to be a challenge, but five is the number of counting, and the number of counting shall be five, so commiserations to some of the artists who are sure to make great music in 2014, like The Dancers, Dumb, Hentai Babies & Prides, who just fall short of making our list. Our five consist of three English artists, one American band and a French trio, and are artists who either will be big in 2014, will be big in 2014 if the stars align, or are unlikely to be big, but will sure as heck make some enjoyable music regardless.

And we commence with:

6. Amber Run

Nottingham-born group Amber Run (previously just Amber) burst into our consciousness back in June with the release of "Noah", a track that mixed nu-folk with stadium rock and quasi-Biblical references. The followed it up this month with "Heaven", a song which saw them delve even deeper into stadium rock territory, albeit in a much more free form manner.

Now signed to the same label David Bowie, the band have been touring up and down the country to great enthusiasm, and have picked up quite a bit of support on late night Radio 1, so expect Amber Run to run into many people's good books in 2014.

7. Fryars

Call it dream pop, call it nu-gaze, call it psychedelic, call it what you like, as long as you call the musical output of Benjamin Garrett, aka Fryars, wonderful. When he's not busy composing soundtracks for Danny Dyer movies, he's creating sumptuous, cinematic soundscapes with a real heart of pop. He has gained support from artists like Kanye West and Depeche Mode, and has made the Radio 1 Playlist with his most recent single, "The Power".

With hundreds of thousands of people already following him on Soundcloud, world domination in 2014 seems like a foregone conclusion for Fryars. And if it leads to thousands of teenagers discovering Mercury Rev as a result of their shared musical DNA, then all the better. 

8. Step Rockets

For rock music to survive, it must evolve beyond its roots. That appears to be the mantra that Minneapolis band Step Rockets have adhered to. Like their contemporaries Imagine Dragons and AWOLNATION, they have a sound that is recognizably rock, yet this sound is then augmented with layers of keyboards and synthetic drums to create a sound that is more accessible to the masses. This formula payed off earlier this year when their fantastic single "Kisser" topped the Hype Machine with little-to-no PR and just a tiny amount of blog love (including from yours truly).

When this blog wrote about Step Rockets back in August, we said they had every chance of being everyone's new favourite band in 2014. Step forward a few months and we truly stand by that prediction. Look out for their next single "Sleep Position", which is due to drop early next year.

9. Superfood

In the past few years, this blog has seen many bands come and go who have promised to bring back the glory of the Britpop era, yet have failed to step up to the mark and break through to the mainstream. Viva Brother were treated as a running joke in the music press before splitting in 2011, whilst Tribes split earlier this year without making the breakthrough they deserved, despite releasing one great album, a decent album and a host of fantastic singles.

So with that in mind, can Birmingham band Superfood break through with a sound that hasn't had mass success since the late 90s? The early signs are good for the band - they've toured with Peace, have been seen as the leading lights of the B-Town scene (a name which this blog acknowledges through gritted teeth), and have recently inked a record deal with Infectious, the former home of Ash and current home of Alt-J. And of course, they've got some great songs under their belt. Upcoming singles "Melting" and "Bubbles", plus their debut self-titled single show a band with a knack for revisiting some of the better moments of Britpop, despite being barely out of nappies when the movement was in full swing in the mid 90s. 

10. We Were Evergreen

Concluding our tips for 2014 is We Were Evergreen, a French trio who are now based in London. They approach music with a childlike innocence, deftly combining folk melodies, unconventional rhythms and instruments, electronic beats and samples and wonderful harmonies to create something that is utterly unique, utterly accessible, and utterly brilliant. They've showed off their knack for creating earworms galore on tracks such as "Baby Blue" and "Leeway", a song which is made of nothing but hooks, hooks, and even more hooks.

They've notched up support slots with everyone from Ed Sheeran to Little Dragon, and with a fan-funded debut album due to be released next year, 2014 is going to be a lot more fun thanks to We Were Evergreen.

The Night IV - Music Sounds Better With You

The Metaphorical Boat very rarely goes in for cover versions, so if you see one here, you better believe that it's in the upper echelons of awesomeness.

The Night IV previously featured on this blog back in June following the release of "Thinking Of You", which went down very well with the collective interwebs. To whet our appetite before the release of their 2nd E.P in the new year, the band are recording six cover versions over the space of six weeks, each song being chosen by a member of the band. This week, their harpist & vocalist Anna chose "Music Sounds Better With You", that 90s dance classic by fellow French group Stardust (which featured 1/2 of Daft Punk). In order to make it more appealing for a live band to record, the band incorporated lyrics from "Fate" by Chaka Khan, the song that was sampled on "MSBWY", which really helps to add their own spin to the already fantastic song. Because as much as you may love the original, you'd be hard pressed to disagree that it is improved immensely by concluding with an epic funky guitar solo.  

The Night VI - Thinking Of You

First of all, if you correctly identify the number of members of the following band based solely on the above press picture, then well done. Your perspective vision is much stronger than mine is.

As their name might suggest,The Night VI are a musical sextet whose songs are seductively dark. Recently signed to Parlophone, the Anglo-French group have released the first song from their upcoming E.P. "Thinking of You" is a song which feels like a throwback to the chanteuse-led songs of yesteryear with a very modern musical setup, the same combination that made Lana Del Rey so beloved. Unlike Del Rey however, the song is a rather uplifting affair despite the lyrical darkness, something that can be chalked down to the band's knack for a great, pop chorus.

The Night VI's E.P "Still Thinking of You" will be released on August 12th.

The Dancers - For Something in Your Eyes

This year's Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition shortlist has been something of a miniature treasure trove of musical loveliness. I've mentioned before that blog favourites Port Isla are already in the running for a chance to play at this year's festival. Now our attention turns to The Dancers, another group who are hoping to win the chance to play the biggest gig of their lives.

The Dancers are a French born, Brighton based trio who mix African-inspired rhythms with an overwhelming pop aesthetic, underpinned by boy/girl dual vocals. In this way, they share similarities with fellow French blog favourite We Were Evergreen, although if that band are like "Phoenix taking their instrumental cues from kindergarten children," then The Dancers are that same group going through the difficult transition from child to adult, if their stunning single "For Something In Your Eyes" is anything to go by.

"For Something In Your Eyes" will be released on March 18th.

We Were Evergreen - Leeway

Whenever the blog first took notice of Paris trio We Were Evergreen back in April, I described the group as sounding as if Phoenix had taken their instrumental cues from kindergarten children, given its smart pop-orientated production and its child-like charm. Now almost a year on, the band have lined up their next single, one which furthers their sound without sacrificing the playfulness that marked them out in the first place.

"Leeway" is a song based around a doo-wop vocal sample, which builds up into a quirky twee-pop number complete with an infectious xylophone riff and some lovely vocal harmonies. The trio have come on leaps and bounds in the space of a year, and look likely to become real contenders for one of the most interesting pop groups of 2013. 

"Leeway" will be released on February 25th.