Dear the Music Industry

We here at the pop web don't often foray into the world of the "unsigned". Truth be told, we're a rather lazy, doughy lot, and much prefer our music to come to us through the traditional media of itunes or spotify, rather than getting up off our behinds and stumbling along to a "venue" and inevitably get too drunk off the watered down Carling to remember anything of note. There are a couple of acts at the moment,however, who have or will definitely buck that trend.

1. Inlight

Inlight are an Oxford-based band who we've seen perform live on a number of occasions. The experience is a perfect mix of well-crafted pop-rock songs and audience interraction featuring lines like "this is for anyone who's ever had a broken heart... or leg". They've got a pretty impressive repertoire of songs with particular highlights including Icarus (which we sincerely hope will help to buck the UK pop bias against winged creatures one day) and the actually beautiful Dido and Aeneas. If a song title which referencis the Aeneid isn't enough to whet your apppetite then, ladies and gentlemen, please feel free to bear witness to Space.



Two initial comments. Firstly, the video and audio quality of this performance really doesn't do justice to the song. We *highly* recommend that you try and pick up the recorded version from their website (inlightband.com). Secondly, if you do so, you'll hopefully come to the same conclusion that we have: this song really bloody well had better be this decade's "Mr. Brightside". There are a number of structural features to the song which lend themselves to this interpretation. Firstly, the chorus begins with an epic "YOU" which is really just crying out to be bellowed atonally by a dancefloor full of sweaty people who've had a few mojitos too many. Secondly, we've already come up with a few signature moves to the guitar and drum line, so if someone doesn't go ahead and sign these guys, they'll be DESTINED to go unnoticed. Great power; great responsibility.

In all seriousness, however, there's very little not to like about this band. Firstly, they are big twitter users, with the lead singer Charlie Atlantic frequently sending out tweets which are hilarious (personal favourites include this and this). Secondly, over the advent period, THEY ACTUALLY DID AN ADVENT CALENDAR which was, by all accounts, brilliant and very much helped to "set the mood" and which you can still have a look at on their youtube channel. Thirdly, and this really is the crucial thing, they produce music which would sit quite nicely alongside the radio "playlists" of the GCap network or whatever the hell it is that Radio 1 pay Fearne Cotton to bang about all day. In these cash-strapped times for the music industry, surely snapping up a band like this would mean one is "on to a winner"?

Also, Mike who is the band's guitarist, once said in our hearing "even my shadow looks fit." Rock and roll.

2. Simon Curtis

The great thing about the internet is that as you're dicking around avoiding all the other things you probably should be doing, you stumble across hidden gems which really help brighten the day.

Or, more accurately, you check popjustice and encounter some fairly good music.

Enter Simon Curtis.

First thing's first, yes, we're fully aware that the whole "boy made not created" thing has a very real danger of becoming something which is a fair few shades less brilliant than Ziggy Stardust (c.f. Prince's whole "symbol" thing and Brandy's "Bran'Nu").

But stick with it. You can download his whole album for free from the website and it's very well worth doing so. His voice definitely has a late 90s boyband quality to it which is layered over the top of some fairly interesting electronic backing tracks. The whole thing works fairly well. And particular highlights thus far include the tracks "Diablo" which features the line "Here's the thing, yeah, we started out friends, but this is not a Kelly Clarkson song and this is not how it ends" and "Fell In Love w/an Android" which features the repeated line "hate to say it but I'd rather f*ck a robot". That probably says it all.

In terms of "commerciability" it's at first sight a little difficult to see where Simon Curtis into the contemporary pop landscape. We will say that it's a damn site better than "If We Ever Meet Again" if that counts for anything. Equally, however, we can see Simon's pop-friendly vocals masking some very interesting and edgy lyrical and musical presentation (in other words, Fearne Cotton probably wouldn't be "mad" about it). We'd like to think, however, in this post-JLS world that we've gone past radio's chronic fear of boybands that aren't Take That or Boyzone and we could find a place for a new artist, who, with perhaps a little bit of polishing, could turn out to be very, very good. If he makes it over to the UK, we'll certainly endeavour to "check him out". We hope you all will do the same.