MOJO Rising: Diagrams
Origin: UK
MOJO says: “Glinting architectural pop outfit Diagrams is led by erstwhile Tunng frontman Sam Genders. Debut album, Black Light, was recorded by Genders and former Chakk and Moloko bassist-turned producer Mark Brydon with a shifting pool of collaborators including Fever Ray’s Peder Mannerfelt and singer-instrumentalists Hannah Peel and Micachu. It’s often vertiginously arranged, brass-infused songs recall everyone from Hot Chip and Metronomy to Arthur Russell and Can. ”
Current release: Debut album Black Light is out now on Full Time Hobby.
Want more?: Read MOJO’s interview with Diagrams in the current issue of the magazine - out now.
MOJO Rising: Natalie Duncan
Origin: Nottingham, UK
MOJO says: “Duncan’s debut album (recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and produced by Joe Henry) is elegant, sensitive and full of drama, with songs bearing her soul over stripped-back blues, folk and jazz.”
Current release: Devil In Me is due for release on July 16 via Verve.
Want more?: Read MOJO’s interview with Natalie in the current issue of the magazine - out now.
Check out Natalie’s cover of the Stones’ Gimme Shelter below:
MOJO Rising: Mary Epworth
Origin: Norfolk, UK
MOJO says: “Imagine a croonier Sandy Denny covering Ramases, with Todd Rundgren producing and The Association on hand to keep him in check.”
Current release: Debut album Dream Life is released in June via ADA/Hand Of Glory.
Want more?: Read MOJO’s interview with Mary Epworth in the current issue of the magazine - out now.
MOJO Rising: THEESatisfaction
Origin: Seattle, USA
Personnel: Stasia Irons, Catherine Harris-White
MOJO Says: “Cat and Stasi bonded over a shared love of jazz, neo-soul and hip hop. Their lo-fi broken beats, savvy jazz loops and shared vocals switch between spoken word poetics and soulful croons. Sub Pop debut, awE naturalE, is moving, bewitching, fierce and hilarious.”
Current release: Debut album, awE naturalE, is out on Sub Pop on March 27
Want more?: Read MOJO’s interview with THEESatisfaction in the current issue of the magazine - out now.
MOJO Rising: All The Young
Personnel: Ryan Dooley, Jack Dooley, David Cartwright, Will Heaney
Origin: Oak Hill, Stoke-On-Trent, UK
MOJO says: “Having emerged as the Gallagheresque New Education in 2008, by 2011 the band had regnerated into the more stylish, suit-wearing All The Young. With [Ryan] Dooley’s full-bore vocal, rockers like single Welcome Home are anthemic with an edge of Midlands blightedness.”
Current Release: Debut album Welcome Home is released on April 2 via 14 Floor Records. Live At The Kings Hall is available to download for free here.
Want more? Read MOJO’s interview with All The Young in the current issue of the magazine – out now.
MOJO Rising: Dan Michaelson
Origin: Northamptonshire, UK
MOJO says: “Recalling the loneliest moments of Glen Campbell and Bill Callahan, his graceful melodies and witty, self-depreciating lyrics are carried along by little more than acoustic guitar and fluttering piano, with occasional aches of pedal steel and cello rising to the surface before quietly evaporating into the ether. It feels like a shortwave radio transmission from a Midwestern ghost town, or the late-night live set of an existentially weary saloon band.”
Current Release: Sudden Fiction is out now on Editions.
Want more? Read Sonny Baker’s interview with Dan Michaelson in the current issue of MOJO – out now.
MOJO Rising: Jodie Marie
Origin: Narberth, Pembrokeshire, UK
MOJO says: “Jodie began singing locally, developing her languid soulful style by sitting in with her father’s band. She inked a deal, aged 16, with manager Toby L at Transgressive and subsequently signed to Verve, honing her songwriting skills with Ed Harcourt and Bernard Butler. Her debut LP Mountain Echo is a languorous affair that places her in Carole King territory.”
Current Release: Single, I Got You, is out now. Debut album, Mountain Echo, is due for release on March 5.
Want more? Read MOJO’s interview with Jodie in the current issue of the magazine – out now.
For more, head over to jodiemarie.co.uk
MOJO Rising: B>E>A>K
Origin: Sunderland, UK
Personnel: Blue Tit, Yellow Belly, Red Rooster, The White Swan, The Green Gannett.
MOJO says: Bird masks, uniforms and pseudonyms disguise the mysterious members of B>E>A>K, each of whom have day jobs playing in Field Music, Coal Train and The Lake Poets. Check out the tracks above to experience their avian-themed instrumental math-rock underpinned by the precision of Minutemen and the complexity of Battles.
Current release: In the midst of unleashing free download series, The Life Of Birds.
Want more? Read MOJO’s interview with B>E>A>K ‘spokesbird’ The White Swan in the current issue of the magazine – out now.
MOJO Rising: Dean McPhee
Origin: Bury, Lancashire, UK
MOJO says: A self-taught guitarist since the age of six and originally obsessed with Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Howlin’ Wolf, McPhee started playing free improvised music after he was introduced to the likes of Neu!, Sonic Youth and John Coltrane at school. His dreamlike guitar playing led to the vinyl-only 2009 Brown Bear EP. Its drifting, luminous sound caught the attention of Paul Smith at Blast First who signed McPhee to record 2011’s astonishing Son Of The Black Peace - an album of hypnotic, resonant beauty.
Current release: Son Of The Black Peace is out now. Dean McPhee is supporting Michael Chapman at The Lexington in London on January 29.
Want more? Read MOJO’s interview with Dean McPhee in the current issue of the magazine – out now.
You can hear more tracks from Dean over at deanmcphee.com
MOJO Rising: First Aid Kit
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden
Personnel: Johanna Söderberg, Klara Söderberg
MOJO says: “Fever Ray/The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson signed them to her Rabid label, Jack White has produced them, Conor Oberst has guested on their new LP and Lykke Li asked them to support her on tour. New album The Lion’s Roar is a bittersweet folk/country romance imbued with the spirit of Emmylou and Gram, Johnny and June. Like a female Everlys, their voices are enough to weaken knees.”
Current release: The Lion’s Roar is set for release on January 23 via Wichita.
Want more?: Read MOJO’s interview with First Aid Kit and our review of The Lion’s Roar (hint: it’s great) in the current issue of the magazine - out now.
