All the breakout artists Zane Lowe highlighted during his debut show on Beats 1
Apple Music debuted its 24/7 radio station, Beats 1, on Tuesday, and DJ Zane Lowe kicked off the broadcast with a little-known band, Spring King. He then launched into a show that included a Pharrell, AC/DC, Dr. Dre, Jamie XX and a handful of breakout artists. Sure, after three or five spins, that Pharrell premiere is stuck in your head, but what about those other tracks you only heard once, forgot to write down and are now searching for? Don’t worry. We rounded ’em up for you. Here are the breakout artists Lowe highlighted during Beats 1’s premiere.
Gallant, “Weight in Gold”: If R&;B futurist Gallant just had his voice—a soaring falsetto that bleeds emotion with every key change—that would probably still be enough. Astoundingly, the 23-year-old New Yorker (by way of Maryland) has more. His mix of bedroom-sexy low end, hip-hop beats and twinkling synths earned him the honor of being Lowe’s first-ever “Hottest Record In The World” Tuesday with “Weight in Gold” off the singer’s forthcoming EP. (EW featured Gallant in our spring playlist, check out what we had to say here.)
Spring King, “City”: Being the first track played to an massive, global audience isn’t to be overlooked. (In fact, having it be from a lesser-known band is meant to prove just how curated Beats1 stands to be.) The British four piece’s raucous track “City” got the nod from Lowe on Tuesday, and is an enthusiastic pop-rock guitar tune that feels both new and retro off the group’s just sort-of-recently-released EP. (For their part, Spring King had no clue the honor was coming. EW caught up with the group after Lowe played the track.)
Bully, “I Remember”: Singer-songwriter-producer Alicia Bognanno’s brand of Nashville-based indie rock dropped its zeitgeisty debut full length Feels Like June 23 and it’s a fuzzy, nostalgic and — at times — abrasive collection you had no idea you needed.
Jack Garratt, “Weathered”: Lowe was one of the first big names to stump for the 22-year-old, prodigiously bearded English artist who blends rock, R&B, soul and, basically, whatever else into an electronic synth-dreamscape back when he was at Radio1. (Sam Smith is just one of the other big names who has joined since then.) Lowe could barely keep off the mic during Garratt’s spin, interjecting bits like “How can you not?” and “It’s been painful not playing that on the radio for the past three months!”—well, Zane, now you can again and we sure don’t mind.
Slaves, “Cheer Up London”: The punk rock duo just dropped their adreneline-induced full length, Are You Satisfied?, and the album’s lead single was a wonderfully aggro rail on modern British society. You don’t take issue with London-circa-now? Us either! But it feels good to sneer.
Eliott Moss, “Slip”: The multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer and producer’s swirling track builds a whole sonic world worthy of getting lost in—which makes it no surprise that along with all else he does, the 20-year-old is also an accomplished visual artist. He mixed his debut, the rueful Highspeeds, primarily solo and it begs comparison (in its meticulous construction as well as its heartache-soaked subject matter) to Bon Iver. (The man behind Bon Iver, Justin Vernon, took notice and booked Moss for his inaugural Eaux Claires Festival lineup.)
Comments