We all dread that moment: 6.30 am, January 2nd, any year. It’s the point at which the alarm goes off and all our worst nightmares become true; the waking ones in which we return to work or school, wage slaves or education stooges, the festive period already beginning to recede into the background of our memories. Just for one year we’d all like to collectively turn it the hell off and roll back over to sleep.
Like many industries, those who work in music have long realised that sleep itself is something of a loser’s choice, and for the last decade or more, they’ve been carefully manicuring a whole host of artists whom they have high hopes for the year ahead – whether or not they’ve been in five bands before for now, they are new. And for now, they are the hottest acts of 2014.
There’s a certain amount of contrivance which you just have to go with in order to keep this whole principal a reasoned one. Firstly, why should the dawning of a new calendar year mean you should automatically open your mind up to previously unheard artists? And even if that’s a place you want to go, why let a bunch of strangers do the picking for you?
Although there are probably few credible arguments to make a case for either being an essential state of mind, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that humans love lists, we like winners (and love losers more) and we also secretly enjoy pretending we’re hip even when we spend eight hours a day in a onesie and have a fascination for popular culture which manifests itself in watching I’m A Celebrity… and the Great British Bake Off. We’re not cool, but just occasionally it’s a guilty pleasure to name-drop the up and comers whilst Take That‘s ‘Progress‘ is still the only CD we have in the car.
The most high profile talent spotting is done at the BBC, via its annual Sound of…survey, one in which a whole community of critical intelligentsia is poked and prodded for their opinions. Desperate to convey impartiality, they even print the selection criteria issued to the grandees, rules that include not telling anyone you’ve even been invited to undertake the role. Whether these are adhered to or not is anyone’s guess, but this layer of enforced transparency is clearly what in the eyes of the Beeb separates advocacy from plain old sponsorship.
They make these stipulations with good reason, as any evidence of bias here would immediately make the exercise worthless. It’s well known that labels big and small employ an army of PR organisations by which to promote their clients, which is fair enough, but the point of the taste making exercise is surely that the chosen acts are selected on the basis of some kind of artistic merit, however subjectively those qualities might be perceived.
Take last year’s winner of the BBC’s poll, Haim. Speaking after the result was announced, Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens claimed the Californian trio had a ‘contagious enthusiasm’ and an ‘unapologetic passion for music that shines in their songs’. Quite. It’s equally true to say their début album was an exercise in highly manicured 21st century pop for grown ups, something slightly at odds with their more raucous live shows. They’d certainly paid their dues as well, having formed various bands in the last few years before building momentum and releasing their first EP in early 2012, playing SXSW that March and then touring with Mumford & Sons and Florence & The Machine.
The merits of the award itself are open to debate. There’s a kudos to be had, of course, and the list of the BBC’s former winners in particular is formidable in terms of predicting commercial success (despite the odd miss such as Little Boots or The Bravery). Last year the sisters Haim went on to play Glastonbury, soundtrack many a student barbecue and have the dubious pleasure of performing for David Cameron in Manchester. Along the way they’ve had a number one album and decent, if not record breaking, sales in the hundreds of thousands.
The band’s detractors in particular have claimed that their slick, high concept Fleetwood Mac-re-imagined-for-the-21st century is one that illustrates the unfair sharing of resources in popular music today. Few ‘new’ outfits for instance have the resources to employ Arctic Monkeys producer James Ford as producer, or make use of studios in London, New York and LA. ‘Days Are Gone‘ sounds good, but then again, that’s possibly/probably a reflection of the amount invested in its creation.
If the previous owners of the title have largely proved to go on to be irresistible – now minted alumni such as Adele, Keane and 50 Cent – there is a cautionary tale or two, such as The Bravery’s rapid decline from the plateau of 2005’s global hit ‘An Honest Mistake‘ into almost complete obscurity four years later, the charmingly entitled single ‘Hatefuck‘ a provocative invitation for punters to avoid third album ‘Stir The Blood‘ – one which they duly took.
Probably more worrying than being told what to like is the narrow creative focus of the contenders, with the BBC’s list being a case in point. There was the kookie jazz diva who sounded just a bit like Adele (Ella Eyre). That was complemented by the soulful minimalism of Los Angeleno Banks, who sounded a bit like London Grammar covering…Adele. Moving on we had the brilliantly named Chloe Howl, the feisty and slightly androgynous looking home counties ingénue with a throaty growl whose track ‘Paper Heart‘ reminds us of the similarly cropped La Roux channelling…Adele.
Alright, fair cop. The choice of three female solo artists makes for cheap gags and easy critical pot shots. And on the list were MCs (well, one) and also a couple of acts who actually seem prepared to risk alienating people by using guitars. But by and large the homogeneous sounding roster feels like replacements for the bands we already know: the highly cyclical, change obsessed nature of those that would tell us what to like seems to dictate that we ditch one synth pop due for another, all on the basis that they’re wearing this year’s look of bored affectation.
There are of course always legions of bloggers who are passionate about the band that they and only five people from Kidderminster know about. But they’re trying to fight a battle which few if any of them will ever win. As a process, the list drawing exercise can equally do serious harm to artists who lack the resources to even get onto people’s radar, along with derailing established acts who are faced with a bleak future of plugging away with the prospect of only diminishing returns.
Perhaps the last word though is best left to Lily Allen, whose determination not to conform with expectations has won her much respect, but also left one or two suits nervously biting their finger nails. Speaking recently to the NME on this very subject, she was her usual forthright self when talking about the blinkered approaches of A&R people :
“What pisses me off about music right now is the lack of support for being experimental and brave,” she said. “People just want to be formulaic and predictable”. She’s right, but perhaps we shouldn’t be so uptight about this; whatever the rights and wrongs of the selection process, talent has always been a distant second to good marketing when it comes to star making.
We say good luck then to this year’s winner Sam Smith, and sincerely hope that you avoid the curse of The Bravery forever.
