Ones To Watch in 2013: Part 2

Citizen

London producer Citizen appeared on our radar last year after destroying his debut Boiler Room set with an unbelievable selection of Deep House vibes. Not long after, Boiler Room beckoned him back to the decks for a MadTech Records showcase session, which is where things got really interesting. We heard him drop two demo tracks off a forthcoming EP in his set that are truly mindblowing. One of those tracks, So Submissive, has already been ripped by Electronic music junkies and uploaded to Youtube (see below), though still in demo form. The remaining track, Stronger With U, will easily be a one of the heavyweight dancefloor tracks for 2013 – mark our words. You can catch a preview of Stronger With U in his Boiler Room set below (it’s the opening track). The release is out on MadTech Records dropping in the next few months, and will change your life.

Andrew Ashong

We featured Ghanaian-British singer/songwriter Andrew Ashong back in September, after hearing his debut EP Flowers on Theo Parrish’s label Sound Signature. Championing soulful Disco House, the nine-minute title track off his EP won track of the year at Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards a few weeks ago, and was also included in our favourite tracks of 2012. He hasn’t revealed what he has in store for 2013 yet, but rest assured our eyes are staying peeled for whatever this guy brings next.

Hiatus Kaiyote

I’m fairly confident that the Future-Soul creatives Haitus Kaiyote have made it onto every Ones To Watch list for 2013, and for good reason too. Their debut album Tawk Tomahawk dropped in April last year, immediately receiving endorsements from the likes of Erykah Badu, the Brainfeeder crew, The Roots, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Gilles Peterson and Jean Grae. Now the rest of the world is starting to catch on and international bookings are flooding in. They’re currently running a campaign for fans to help them get to SXSW in Austin, Texas, with all sorts of different cool presents if you help out. Hopefully we’ll be seeing them in our neck of the woods in 2013.

Kirkis

Also from Melbourne is the psychedelic Future-Jazz producer Kirkis, who self-released his stunning debut album Purplefruit for Xray Vision back in March last year. The nine-track orchestration had us frothing at the ears, with fluorescent frequencies dribbling out in every song. However, it wasn’t till he dropped the standalone single thesoftmachine two months ago that things started to heat up. The track, which features angelic vocals from Haitus Kaiyote backing vocalist Loreli, has been getting international love left, right and centre, and is introducing more and more people to his debut album (free download by the way). 2013 is bringing a new Kirkis record plus production for an artist named Coseyema, which we can’t wait for. Kirkis has also just finished an interview and mix for our series which should be dropping in the next few days!

Marika Hackman

The gorgeous tones of young Folk goddess Marika Hackman have been making their way around the internet this past year. Free-floating melodies and rich imagery of English landscapes have us reminiscing of Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake, which is a pretty impressive feat considering she’s only 19. The past year brought a 2-track single produced by Folk pioneer Johnny Flynn, which you can check out below. 2013 should bring a debut album from this delightful super-talent, and perhaps even a Mercury Prize nomination if all goes well.