MAX UNITY
The main guy behind this Cardiff-based act, if not the sole entity responsible, is painter Sean Donovan. Can a mere cloddish demo reviewer discern a creative link between Donovan’s idiosyncratic watercolours and his music? It’s a no from me – which isn’t to say that these concoctions of shuffling dance beats and live instrumentation aren’t enjoyable. Situation Vacant and Jon Snow, despite their janky recording, are where Max Unity does it for me, via their droney psychedelic backdrops, muffled crooner vocals. NG
CODEW4LKERS
Even Better Enemies, the debut by Cardiff trio Codew4lkers, has one of those chorus hooks – “Biggedy-bo-oh-oh!”, delivered by Seun Babatola in a style somewhere between a toaster and an elf from a kids’ movie – that you know is going to lodge itself in your head for a long time. That’s a compliment, broadly speaking, but fair warning: this melange of conscious hip-hop, pop reggae and someone like Gorillaz might drive you bonkers. There’s a good chance you might hear more about Codew4lkers soon, though. NG
HANA2K
The ‘2K’ of Hana Evans’ artist name refers, I assume, to her birth year; for whatever reason, 16-year-old pop artists don’t cause me age-based personal anguish like 16-year-old footballers do. Not that Evans is pro level yet, but she’s got a pretty sussed personal brand on the go – uploading one song per month to Soundcloud, starting with Jealousy, a wistful and very modern sliver of electronic pop with soft pads, autotune and lyrics about gossipy friends. NG