We’ve been fans of rising UK songwriter Josh Kumra for a little while now. “Waiting For You”, his newest track, is one of those “put it all together” moments. Kumra’s realized here potential hinted at in previous singles and focused through one soulful, hook-laden, skillfully-crafted pop track.
Josh Kumra – Waiting For YouJosh Kumra 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.2
Denitia Odigie is an artist that if you’re not as of yet, you need to get familiar with. Her latest “Desert Hearts” is great and a sound that is fresh, new, interesting, all that. If you’ve got any kind of 2012 R&B nu-garage sort of fatigue Ms. Odigie should put it to rest pretty quickly.
Denitia Odigie 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.4
In celebration of his recent Boracay Planet EP release, producer Blackbird Blackbird has delivered this delectable reworking of Kate Bush’s “Running Up the Hill”. The track premiered with Work Mag, sample it below and read more here.
Blackbird Blackbird – Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush Cover)Blackbird Blackbird 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.6
Los Angeles trio “Honey & Queen” have just released a new single from their upcoming Prismatic EP – due February 2013. Still true to the soulful and electro roots of previous releases, “Honey and Queen” takes on a more psychedelic role for the band, with it’s synthcoded vocals and hypnotic jungle drum-kit groove. It’s the sound of a group exploring their boundaries with a comfortable cohesion for coloring inside the lines. Grab a free download of “Honey and Queen” below and be sure to keep an eye out for more to come from American Royalty in 2013.
American Royalty (Facebook) (Official)
Rating 8.1
Brooklyn based duo Lovelife (LVLF) recently let loose on “Heavenly”, a new hook-latent gem that’s previewed here from their forthcoming EP, The Fourth Floor. “Heavenly” sees the duo’s emotions rise and fall through melodic states of optimistic euphoria, all while set to the backdrop of dance-floor readied R&B pop. It’s likely you’ve come accross LVLF before, either through gigs with the likes of The Neighourhood, Fitz and the Tantrums and St. Lucia, or via various official remix projects for The Killers and Everything Everything to name a few. Keep this duo on your radar and get familiar with “Heaven” below.
Lovelife – HeavenLovelife (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.3
The Weeknd delivers more of what he does best on “Twenty Eight” (ie the unfortunate and agonizing problem of having girls telling friends how he’s got them screaming his name). Doc McKinney & Illangelo work the boards for yet another troubled-soul R&B slice of pop perfection. Track is hot. Grab the Trilogy LP 11/13.
The Weeknd – Twenty EightThe Weeknd 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.5
ChrisCo links up it collabs-man Posner and Young Knox for “So Close” from his new MI STATE OF MIND LP. Jams keep comin. Get into it.
ChrisCo – So Close (Feat. Mike Posner & Young Knox) [Prod. The Academy]ChrisCo (Twitter)
Rating 8.10923
With all the madness that is election Tuesday, I thought it would be nice to spin some chillwave from Teen Daze on B3SCI. From the just released album The Inner Mansions, “Spirit” lets you escape from the pundits, poll conspiracies and ‘new experts’ of politics on Facebook. By Brian Litwin
Teen Daze – SpiritTeen Daze (Facebook)
Rating 8.1
UK collective Theme Park tap into the heart of it all on this historical election day of 2012 in the States. Their stirring rendition of The National’s “Bloodbuzz Ohio” is the final cover from the band’s forthcoming Two Hours EP. You can grab a free download of the track below.
Theme Park – Two HoursTheme Park 
(Facebook) (Official)
Rating 8.2
Curtis Williams drops off something fresh from his upcoming Half Forgotten Daydreams project. The breezy “Face It” glides on a nice buttery horn hook and five alive rhymes.
Curtis Williams – Face ItCurtis Williams 
(Twitter)
Rating 8.3
With only a small collection of enamoring tunes of folksy roots to their name, the debut EP by Australian sensations Texture Like Sun is something worth your attention. Tracks like “Bottle” and “One Great Prize” have been making their way round the blogosphere within the last year or so and the band caught our attention with sheer melodic grace and humble substantive core. Give the self-titled debut EP from Texture Like Sun a sample below.
Texture Like Sun 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.3
