News This Week In New Music (7th December 2013)

The new issue of DIY features 43 new bands. That’s 28 more than the BBC Sound Of and around 20 more than any sensible person could listen to in the space of one day. It’s a (not so) quick summing up of all the acts likely to be exciting, productive, brilliant in the next 12 months. There’s nothing stopping the below, however, from creeping up on us and stealing the show. It’s early days for all of them, but don’t rule out Ben Khan, Leeds’ Adult Jazz and Aussie Oscar Key Sung from having something spectacular up their sleeves - it’s not like they haven’t already unveiled moments of brilliance already.

TRACK OF THE WEEK
Ben Khan - Savage


A big, dark booming beast is ‘Savage’. It sweeps aside Jai Paul comparisons and sends them into a hellish pit to rest. Funk licks, ghetto-blasting beats; it’s a combination of cool that somehow doesn’t look like a cynical product to please the cultural zeitgeist. Lurking beneath the so-hot-right-now aesthetic is Ben Khan’s best song to date, a fly-as-fuck pop song that’s 100% aware of its brilliance. ‘Savage’ in application, ‘Savage’ at heart, this is a merciless single that deserves to go far.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Oscar Key Sung - All I Could Do


‘All I Could Do’ is a pristine, dance-meets-R&B triumph that deserves credit on its own right. Oscar Key Sung’s a bloody good vocalist, too; one of the best out there. But the reason this is here in our new music round-up is all down to the video. It’s an extraordinary blast of strange shades and pretty colours, cast up in a mythological paradise where the sun creeps through and ghostly creatures lurk in the background. Up in the clouds - and these aren’t your everyday fluffy things - it’s like the location of an intergalactic 3D game, where there’s no ‘big boss’ to topple, no levels to reach. Like the song itself, it’s a floaty waltz through dreamy thoughts, a tripped-out ode to calm.

DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK
Adult Jazz


There are some scattered, barely visible traces of the Adult Jazz that existed two years prior to the release of ‘Springful’. 30-second video pieces are out there, giving the odd glimpse into their warped experimentation. It’s likely that whatever existed before this song has been wiped from the internet, as much as that’s even possible these days. Eventually, the Leeds group decided to unveil something proper, a mission statement to topple them all. ‘Springful’ possesses the kind of soulful, biting tongue that Dave Longstreth might want to acquire, plus a circuiting wheel of chopping percussion and some sweet, sweltering atmospherics. It’s a dynamic introduction that could be stretched out across an entire, entrancing album. There’s probably one ready to go. Expect to see this ending up on a Beggars label in no time.