Over the last two years, jumping between her two homes (Stockholm and New York), Kissey (formerly, Kissey Asplund) dove deep into an enclosed world of bass-heavy speakers, songwriting and beat-making, even enrolling herself in a course in mixing/mastering taught by Grammy-award nominated Daniel Wyatt at New York production school Dubspot.

Kissey has just realeased her latest track ‘Cry’ for free download via her Soundcloud. On ‘Cry,’ as with all of her forthcoming material, Kissey wrote, sang, produced, mixed and mastered every instrument and crafted every beat.

You can download the track at her Soundcloud and check out the homemade video below. You can also find out more about Kissey at Kissey.co

The latest signing to the flourishing Moda Music label, Toy Tigers is primed and ready. But in all truth he’s been hiding in the background the whole time. 1/4 Part responsible for the runaway party success that it is Moda, Ben Atkins (Toy Tigers) started Moda with Tom Staar, Jaymo and Andy George just less than 5 years back. It’s been a long time coming but the circle is about to become complete, with the team of four all holding down musical careers of their own, as well as putting on some of the best parties in the UK.

His first single is out now on Moda Music, you can check out the Ben Thomas directed (benthomas-photo.com) video for ‘Golden’ below and stream the excellent Tom Staar remix via soundcloud. For more info visit thisismoda.com or grab the tracks from Beatport.

Yorkshire upstarts I Swim With Sharks have just dropped the new video for their latest single ‘Just Be Good’. Depicting the band in the chaos of World War One trench warfare (explosions, planes, mud sweat and tears) before they escape to perform a somewhat surreal gig, only to be interrupted by local police; Odd? Yes – Amazing? Yes.

Already hailed as ones to watch amongst the scuffle of acts coming out of the thriving Leeds music scene, ‘Just Be Good’ is the fitting introduction to their askew indie sensibilities and pop-nous.

You can check out the video below and find out more about the band at iswimwithsharks.com. The single drops November 1st.

Michael Grubbs has taken an odd road to becoming Wakey!Wakey!, from a childhood sat in front of a baby grand piano, to touring with two musicals, to settling in Brooklyn under the wing of anti-folk musician Lach.

Nowhere are the lessons learned on this odd road better showcased than on Wakey!Wakey!’s debut UK single ‘Light Outside’, due for release July 18th. It boasts touches of timeless orchestral arrangements – informed by Grubbs’ unlikely fascination with Gershwin and Beethoven – a glistening pop sheen so spotless you can see your reflection in it, and an enthralling urgent climax that you can’t take your eyes (well, ears?) off.

Much has also been made of Grubbs’ distinctive voice, but you just need to look at the piles of critical acclaim poured upon, for example, the syringe gargling, gravel milkshake drinking vocals of Wu Lyf to see that distinctive voices are the order of the day. Not that Grubbs’ vocals are anything so abrasive – he sings in a much more traditional and talented style, but with a corrupted, striking quality that injects personality into a fresh take on an exhausted genre.

The debut album, Almost Everything I Wish I’d Said The Last Time I Saw You, unlike most of piano power pop’s more credible divisions, also has a shot at the commercial big time through Grubbs’ recurring appearances on American drama One Tree Hill (which this particular writer assumes is angsty rich kids drivel, but if it’s good enough for Bon Iver’s tunes then who am I to argue?). Either way, the record, coming to CD racks near you this August, looks set to cash in on all the talent and experience Grubbs has taken so long working for.

“Almost Everything I wish I’d Said The Last Time I Saw You” is out now on Family Records and you can check out lead single ‘Light Outside’, or find out more at wakeywakeymusic.com

Quirky female solo artist in the vein of Bjork and Kate Bush: a phrase that seems a bit tired now? Well maybe you should think again. New Zealand’s Kimbra is trying to reinvent what it means to be a female pop star in this day and age. She is taking a tried-and-tested formula and making something genuinely exciting out of it.

‘Settle Down’, her latest single, is a perfect example of how she takes the recipe for pop success and puts a little spin on it. Kimbra’s vocals are similar to that of French singer Camille’s, and anyone familiar with the latter’s work will know that all is never as idyllic as the lush melodies would have you believe. There is something eerily obsessive about ‘Settle Down’ that is only heightened by the haunting Ken & Barbie-styled video that accompanies it.

Sunny-side up pop might not be to everyone’s taste but you have to appreciate what Kimbra is trying to achieve: writing well-structured and catchy tunes that doesn’t have the nauseating stench of manufactured pop. It’s okay even for the self-confessed pop-snobs to like her, and that’s something she can only build on with her debut album Vows, expected later this year.

Kimbra’s collaboration with Miami Horror, ‘I Look To You’, is out now on Car W.S. Kimbra’s debut LP ‘Vows’ is out in late 2011.

Thats probably enough with cliched ‘making music is like cooking food’ writing. Look Stranger! are a 4 piece band from London that create low-key, effortless and melancholy beats. All members have previously been associated with the likes of Laura Marling, Marcus Mumford and Charlie Fink, but unlike their former bandmates this isn’t mind numbingly dribbling folk-light.

Unsigned and self producing their about to drop their next EP ‘If Your Listening’ which by their own declaration is a departure from their earlier self released EP – Cleaner vocals, more structure and a sunnier disposition.

‘If Your Listening’ is out July 4th on digital download and accompanied by a limited edition run of 100 cd’s. You can find out more about the band at facebook.com/lookstranger
and check out the bands soundcloud below for a preview of their excellent EP.

Polarset’s earlier tracks – namely ‘Leave Argentina’ and ‘Just Don’t Open Your Eyes Yet’ – come across like Two Door Cinema Club via Ibiza (with all the far too catchy pop hooks, all the summer hyperbole, and all the I-bet-they’re-really-nice-guys-ience that this would imply), with the layered grooves of Friendly Fires’ less synthy moments.

Their debut single with tastemaker label Kitsune, ‘Sunshine Eyes’, flashes a new scope however and reveals previously hidden potential. Wearing the still present Summer vibes tattooed shamelessly on its sleeve, the track coyly holds back, slowly building from shy and playful into a vibrantly colourful Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs track with guitars , only better than that; an aural imagining of that blurred 4:00am party moment where everything in the universe is aligned to be briefly and beautifully perfect.

Should they really seek to fulfil those obvious pop ambitions you’d be vacant-headed idiot to bet against them. With a flying start behind them and some genuine passion and heart to keep the aficionados on side, Polarsets might just genuinely be ones to watch. (Let’s hope.)

You can find out more about Polarsets here, or check out their debut single ‘Sunshine Eyes’ below.

With Nottingham’s charismatic Liam Bailey and America’s classy Aloe Blacc handling the bluesier edge of the soul spectrum, Essex newcomers The Milk have stepped up as 2011’s answer to The Vandellas.

Imagine The Zutons born at the height of The Style Council’s era and you’re not too far off.

The foursome have kicked their day jobs to drop debut single ‘(All I Wanted Was) Danger’, with B-side ‘Dynamite’ (which is it just me, or is it about Viagra?), which offers a preview of the classic call-and-response big soul choruses you can expect their fully fledged record, due sometime soon, to be built upon

While they may be a bit too Jools Holland for some, it’ll be at the very least interesting to see if their sound and considerable energy is enough to bring the missing genre back to the charts.

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Discovering the band in late 2008 after hearing their album “Crushing Digits”, they present an enthralling sound scape of thick synthesizers, layered and always building drums, smothered in blips-beeps and an echoing wall of vocals. For those who think best through comparison- they sit somewhere between Bloc Party & 65 Days of static, its my love for the latter (65dos) that caused me to dismiss the band earlier in their career. That and the ethos to which they work – no filter – their album output often works less as cohesive maticulous single work, but more as a snapshot of the bands mood’s and ever developing progression as an electronic orchestra.

But… VETO are back with brand new track from the forthcoming album and accompanied by a stunningly atmospheric video, created in a dedicated 3 day mirror laboratory for researching reflections, fractures and framings of over 200 custom made laser cut mirrors built into various sculptures, mobiles and installations.

You can check out the video for ‘This Is Not’ below or find out more about the guys here.

Though they met with little more in common than a deal with Tape Club Records, they’ve fit like two pieces of an enchanting indie jigsaw to create the Clothes, Friends and Photos’ EP.

It is an EP which ticks all the right boxes, with fashionable acoustic minimalism, bittersweet lyrics and understated, layered vocals. It is not however, lo-fi by the numbers. There’s a playful creativity here, showed on the break-up song title track and in the intricacies of ‘Half Empty’, but most of all the beguiling acoustic of free download ‘The Summer House Song’ – a folk-y effort reminiscent of Bombay Bicycle Club’s venture into the genre last year.

A clear highlight is the almost Philip Glass-esque ‘Knees’, an intimate indie piano-led generally lovely song to outclass all intimate indie piano-led generally lovely songs. It’s a good taster of the talent, not to mention the heartbeat-slowing chemistry, shared by this young and promising duo.

You check out the video for lead track of their new EP Clothes, Friends and Photos ‘Knees’ below. And find out more about the duo at Peterandkerry.com