Flytjendur
-
Faye Webster
Faye Webster loves the feeling of a first take: writing a song, then heading to the studio with her band to track it live the very next day. When you listen to the 23-year-old Atlanta songwriter’s poised and plainspoken albums, you can hear why: she channels emotions that are so aching, they seem to be coming into existence at that very moment. Webster captures the spark before it has a chance to fade; she inks lyrics before they have a chance to seem fleeting. Her signature sound pairs close, whisper-quiet, home-recorded vocals with the unmistakable sound of musicians together in a room.
I Know I’m Funny haha is Webster’s most realized manifestation yet of this emotional and musical alchemy. Continuing to bloom from her 2019 breakthrough and Secretly Canadian debut Atlanta Millionaires Club, Webster’s sound draws as much from the lap-steel singer-songwriter pop of the 1970s and teardrop country tunes as it does from the audacious personalities of her city’s rap and R&B community, where she first found a home on Awful Records.
In the two years since Atlanta Millionaire Club, Webster’s profile has steadily risen—as she played festivals like Austin City Limits and Bonnaroo and found her way onto none other than Barack Obama’s 2020 year-end list—and she also fell in love. “This record is coming from a less lonely place,” Webster says of I Know I’m Funny haha, which finds her sound fuller, brighter, and more confident.
-
Sprints
Formed in late 2019 Sprints have barely paused for breath since. Debut AA side ‘Kissing Practice’/ ‘The Cheek’ immediately landed them a fan in BBC 6Music legend Steve Lamacq and, as the year played out, early support from the likes of DIY, NME, So Young and more. Cemented by the reception to the ‘Manifesto EP’, it’s allowed them to dig even deeper into their policy of honesty.
Everything that goes into the band’s cathartic punk battle-cries can be seen as something of a call-to-arms: an attempt to silence the internal doubting voices and to fight against the outdated social tropes that box in individuality. Now, more confident in their opinions and identities than ever, forthcoming EP ‘A Modern Job’ (produced once again by Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox) is set to take these ideas – that the personal is innately political, and that expression and using your voice is fundamentally crucial – and solidify them even further. Sprints’ latest is a vital, visceral next step.
-
Amie Blu
“Rich with honesty and unbridled emotion” (Rolling Stone UK), Amie Blu feels perfectly at home in a new wave of alternative artists - Mk.gee, Dijon, SZA - whose casual handle on genre nonetheless feels completely rooted in classic, crafted songwriting. Born of French heritage in South East London, Amie cut her teeth in community projects growing up - ArtsTrain, Flames Collective – whilst developing her sound, and sense of self, across 2024 mixtape how we lose. Introspective but frank, songs like ‘everything about her’ showed a poetic brand of realism - and soulful, stop-you-in-your-tracks voice - way beyond Amie Blu’s years. Since then, Amie has opened for Joy Crookes, Jacob Banks, Faye Webster and sold-out her own headline dates as she builds up to 2025's debut album, when all is said and done. Featuring acclaimed singles like 'swimming in pity', 'shadow', and 'missing everything', it's a record drenched in feeling; startling explorations of love, loss, depression and human connection, but ultimately about the relationship with the self. Far from an exploration of endings, when all is said and done is the start of something truly special from Amie Blu.
