January 1 2016 - Hot 16 To Kick Off '16

SAFARI GOLD - TIDE
Shimmering upbeat pop layered in melody from Cardiff quartet (which includes brothers Morgan and Lewys Isaac who formerly traded under the name of Cuba Cuba, 2007-11) in their follow-up to 'Howl' debut.




THE CRASH BANDITS - DISTRACTIONS
After we featured the Minneapolis three-piece here with 'Fast Times' last month, they now reveal another track of pop-punk with strains of hardcore grunge from their upcoming album, 'Lighten Up', out January 8.




SONDER SALOON - WHO YOU ARE
Indie-folk Los Angeles-based combo (which includes twin brothers Gary and Kaspar Kazazian) whose use of acoustic guitars, vocal harmonies, banjo and synth conjures up a Fleet Foxes vibe. Recently released debut EP 'Mackinaw' was worked on in a Utah mountain retreat.




NEW DESERT BLUES - MILK & HONEY
Lead track - now remastered from the demo that was previously around - of the debut album 'To Be My Own' out on January 29 from the Hampshire sextet, who have expanded their folk/ blues/ Americana sound.




ALICE GIRL - CRYSTAL HEART
Playing with lo-fi R&B boundaries, 21-year-old Australian music student from Adelaide, Caitlin Feagan, fuses electronic pop vibes with ethereal vocals in a way that is instantly engaging. (Look out for a Little Indie interview coming up with Caitlin.)




LAETER - EIGHTEEN
Back to Adelaide for this swampy chunk of trippy, metallic sampling from 21-year-old producer Liam Bosecke who "aims to create something original and different". Sounds like he's succeeding.




BATTERY OPERATED ORCHESTRA - THE SEA
Quirky, bouncy electropop from Brighton husband/wife DIY electronic duo Brigitte Rose and Chris Black. Released January 1. Catch them live at The Prince Albert in Brighton on January 23.




HAELOS - PRAY
We have already featured this London trio as a 'Big In '16' act, but we couldn't resist including this trippy little bugger - which came out as a white label 7" in early December - again. Catch them live in London at The Lexington on January 11.




TOLEDO SPRINGS - P9
Sprawling six-minute psych/ dream-pop track from the Auckland, New Zealand band's (who we first introduced here) self-titled debut EP released on December 17. Ease back and chill.




SISTER CROWLEY - HEAD DEAD
From the album 'Nightmarers', out as of December 26, the garage/ punk Long Beach, California quartet turn up high energy, fuzzy punk rawness with melodic sensibilities. Ace track. Keep an eye on this Sister, folks.




TERMINÉ - SIDEWAYS
Title track from the Finnish electronica duo's EP ‘Sideways’ released just before Christmas on Finnish label, Youth Control. The project of DJ/producer Anton Sonin and singer/songwriter Ben Andreas, creating indie-dance vibes.




IV LEAGUE - LIT SCREEN
Melbourne four-piece garage/alt-pop outfit who formed last summer are racking up praise in droves Down Under with this and 'Varsity', their double-whammy single onslaught.




BAKER ISLAND - WRITE HOME
Newcastle lo-fi fuzzy, scratch-pop quintet share the lead from 'Four Days In The Life Of The Auto-Icon', a cassette release out on Wiener Records on January 18.




IN ISOLATION - PARLANCE
80s-influenced indie rock trio from Nottingham with the second single (produced by Gavin Monaghan) from their upcoming debut album 'A Certain Fractal Light' (released March 4 2016 via Aye Aye Records) which came out last week.




VORSEN - LIVE A LITTLE LIE (ft. Kendra Fewster)
The lead single from the Perth, Australia folk-rock outfit's upcoming debut EP to be released in February. Evolving from a solo project by songwriter/vocalist Oliver Halvorsen, adding melancholic richness now as a four-piece.




.GIF - GODSPEED
If Björk came from Singapore and was part of an electronica/ Portishead-sounding duo, it might turn out something like this (or maybe not - you decide). It's different anyway, and is the first single from the debut LP 'Soma' (released in December) by vocalist Chew Wei Shan (aka Weish), and Nurudin Sadali (Din).