Ed Sheeran +

It seems that some artists these days are appearing out of nowhere and rising to the top quicker than you can say “two singles in the top 10 and a number one album”. Ed Sheeran is definitely an example of a quick rise to fame, a few months ago his name was whispered around industry types but yet was unknown to the masses. Fast-forward (a bit) and his debut album ‘+’ has gone straight to number one, knocking his old pal Example off the top spot. Not bad for a guy who has lived on people’s sofas for the past year or so.

‘+’ Opens with his hit single ‘A Team’ which I am sure you are all familiar with by now, as it has been played on nearly every radio station across the country. This is then followed by ’Drunk’ and the re worked version of ‘U.N.I’ which some earlier Ed Sheeran fans may recognise as it appeared on the ‘One Take’ EP, this is the first track to give us more of a taste of his grime/hip hop influences that are included in the album.

The next four tracks, ‘Grade 8’, ‘Wake Me Up’, ‘Small Bump’ and ‘This’ are the more ‘soulful’ songs, with instruments stripped back to basics, either being acoustic guitar or piano and the lyrics are all evocative, these are most likely the tracks that listeners could ‘relate’ to in some way or another, and it shows Ed’s voice at his best.

‘The City’, ‘Lego House’ and second single ‘You Need Me’ see the addition of extra instruments, more drums are added and the acoustic is swapped for an electric, particularly in ‘The City’. These songs also provide the evidence of the skill Ed has with his voice, and that he clearly knows how to work it to get the sound of the album perfect.

As you reach the end of the album, everything slows down again, treated with what could almost be described as a ballad in the form of ‘Kiss Me’, an intense song that couples everywhere will adorn as ‘their song’. The album is then finalised by ‘Give Me Love’, which for the first three and a half minutes gives the impression of just another slow, acoustic track that is very similar the some of the others. But this song has got a trick up its sleeve that turns an otherwise boring song, into possibly one of the best tracks on the whole album. Come 3:30, extra vocals, not belonging to Ed, are introduced followed quickly by African drums. All of a sudden it feels like you’ve been transported to The Lion King and you should be watching animals stampede around you!

The song continues with Ed pushing his voice harder than any other song, which quite frankly gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. It’s an utterly brilliant way to finish off the album, kudos to Ed for that one.

Overall, it’s an excellent debut, though it could possibly have been improved with more hip hop/grime features to give the album more of a variety, each of the tracks are excellent in their own way and it’s an album that a lot of listeners will be able to relate too and there’s nothing bad about that!

Let’s see where this fiery haired fellow travels next on his adventure to the top…(Probably the biggest venues this country holds).

This review can also be found on the Propaganda blog website at www.thepropagandamag.com

The Boys Are Back In Town!

This time last year we were routing on the girls and their guitars when it came to music, with the likes of Ellie Goulding, Florence and the Machine and Laura Marling hitting the airwaves at an alarming pace! Fast forward on twelve months and it looks like the boys are pushing the ladies to the side while they take on the industry with acoustic guitars and hauntingly good vocals.

Some of you may have read my previous blog posts about the wonderful Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Charlie Simpson. But it seems that they are just two of many fuzz-faced gentleman releasing albums recently.

Charlie released his album Young Pilgrim on the 15th August, which at first looked unlikely to happen as unfortunately all of the copies of Young Pilgrim were burnt to a cinder in the Sony Warehouse fire during the London Riots. But thankfully him and his team managed to get a whole new load of Cd's produced and released on the 15th! I have been a fan of Charlie ever since his face adorned my bedroom walls back in his Busted days, so was overly excited to find out he was releasing solo material, and he has most definitely done himself proud!
Young Pilgrim is a lyrically mournful album with many songs relating to losing someone close which i am sure many can relate too. However Charlie has teamed his words with the perfect instruments and harmonies that can just wind through your mind with each listen.

It has also been rumoured that Robert Pattinson co-wrote some of the songs with Charlie for Young Pilgrim, although Simpson isn't the only person Pattinson has helped write music for.

Bobby Long is a 26 year old British singer-songwriter originally from the south-west, however now resides on the other side of the Atlantic where he tours constantly. Bobby moved to London in 2004 to attend University, where he met the now pale skinned, vampire heartthrob Robert Pattinson. Twilight fans would know that Pattinson recorded a song called Let Me In for the first Twilight soundtrack, which, in fact was written by Bobby Long. From then on Bobby's career has gone from strength to strength, his voice is soulful and enchanting and his music beautifully written. He released his album A Winter Tale at the beginning of February this year and although he is yet to 'break' the UK he is definitely one to keep an eye one as i think we will be hearing much more of him in the future.

Another recent discovery of mine has been 23 year old Ben Howard from Devon, (must be something in the country air!) His album Every Kingdom is to be released on October 3rd of this year and will include previously released tracks Old Pine and The Wolves. If these tracks are anything to go by we can expect some remarkable vocals mixed with some country folk guitar playing similar to that of Newton Faulkner.

Taking a slightly different route with his guitar is fiery haired Ed Sheeran. His single the A Team has been sweeping our ears constantly with it getting a very large amount of air time on radio's across the country and has thrown him into the spotlight. Unlike others though Ed is very much inspired by the underground grime scene and has become good friends with the likes of Example and Wretch 32. This evidently makes him a very exciting newcomer because he's different to so many acoustic artists around. His debut album + is to be released on September 12th and has the potential to be one of the best albums of 2011. Simply because it has such a mix of genres flowing through it. He has the lyrical stature of big name Hip Hop and Grime artists, yet also a singing voice that could make even the hardest of butters melt. With such a large fan base and industry backing, i wouldn't be surprised if Ed will be selling out some of the biggest venues in the UK within a few months.

So there we go, my tips for the top! I can only strongly urge all of you to check out each of these artists as I'm sure they will be loved by many!

Happy Listening!