Lawson

http://www.facebook.com/lawsonofficial

I must be masochistic. There's no other explanation for why I keep finding artists outside of the US who I can't 1) see in concert and 2) download their music. But I guess it's a burden I'm all too willing to bear because let's face it, Lawson is spectacular.

I decided to look into them after seeing the boys of The Wanted tweet about them, and after seeing Sugarscape tweet a picture from one of their shows, I decided they would most definitely be worth looking into. And boy am I glad I did. Upon finding their YouTube channel, the very first thing I decided to watch was their cover of Lady Gaga's "Marry the Night." Why you ask? Well, I haven't seen any covers of "Marry The Night" and the fact that this British pop-rock band decided to cover a song that my pop expert friend regards as one of Gaga's best and most under appreciated single intrigued me. How would they cover it? And most importantly, how could they possibly do it justice? Well, the answer is quite simple. They stripped it down and slowed it into a gorgeous ballad feel that ultimately caused my to get chills. (It also did the same for Siri, so that's sayin' something. It wasn't just me lol) That cover alone was all I really needed to solidify my love for them. But I can't really justify writing a post mainly based on one cover, so I found myself listening to their latest single.

Now, if you're thinking that they can only pull off other people's songs, I'd have to call bullshit, because "She Was Mine" is a wonderful piece of pop to rival that of artists such as Parachute. It has ALL potential to get on the radio, and honestly I'll be quite disappointed if it doesn't make it's way to America ASAP.

I mean, it'd only make sense that they would break the US, right? They've toured with the likes of The Wanted, Avril Lavigne and Westlife. They also had their own headlining tour in May AND are a part of the lineup for T in the Park. Basically they're going places in the UK and with the amount of UK acts taking a crack at the US right now, I can only hope they'd join along.

That all being said it looks like their album isn't set to drop until September and we all know that means that here in the US of A we'll have to wait a couple months longer than that, but lemme be the first to tell you that this band is DEFINITELY worth the wait.

Go Download: You can pick up a download of their song "Red Sky" for nothing more than a tweet or Facebook like, which I SOOOO worth it. (Also, it might be time to dust off that youtube to mp3 converter so you can replay that "Marry the Night" cover as many times as you'd like.)

Tich

http://www.youtube.com/user/Iamtichmusic

I'm a firm believer in checking out music that artists I like talk about. I mean, since I like them, it only stands to reason that I'd like what they listen to, at least a little, right? So when Louis Tomlinson tweeted about Tich's cover of "More Than This", I had to look into it, if not only for the fact that I love the song. What I ended up finding was a wonderful female vocalist who not only makes gorgeous covers of the songs I love, but who also makes amazing original songs.

If we're being honest, I was so excited to write the post about her, I almost double posted yesterday. But I exercised my self restraint and waited until this morning to post. Because of this remarkable self restraint I have (haha) I was able to become quite familiar with the songs she has on her youtube channel (I think I let her channel autoplay like.... four times in a row).

You see, Tich is the stage name of Rachel Furner, who started playing piano and writing music at quite a young age, so though she's only 20, she has the musicality of someone much older. Her voice is so clear and strong and I can't help but feel it's the voice that most female artists shoot to emulate, but never can. And because of that, I can't help but wonder how it is this girl isn't making radio rounds yet. Of course, I can only imagine it's a matter of time now before people pick up on how amazing she is as she has performed with artists such as Paolo Nutini, Pixie Lott, Justin Beiber and written music with Nick Jonas. (Oh, and in 2010 she performed at the iTunes Festival. Yeah.)

On top of all that, she just seems like such a genuine person. As we speak-- er... type-- her song "What I Meant To Say" is playing and the video consists of several clips of her and her friends just goofing off. Now, I like to pride myself in the fact that I'm an excellent judge of character, and this girl has the best kind of character. She not only captivates you with her music, but her personality.

Have I said enough about her to make you intrigued? No? Well, good, cuz I wasn't done yet anyway. You see, I was already pretty sold on Tich after the "More Than This" cover. I became completely sold upon hearing her cover of Queen's "No One But You." But the song that made Tich leap to the top of my favorite female vocalist list? Her own song "Breathe In, Breathe Out" that she wrote with Nick Jonas. The song is about the moment you realize you've fallen in love with someone, and who HASN'T been there before, right? But anyway, aside from the fact that it's so freaking relatable, she sings it SO passionately. I was completely blown away when I heard it. So much so in fact that I had to replay it just to make sure that I had heard what I thought I had. (If you were wondering, yes, I did. It still blows me away even though I'm sure I've added 100 views to the video.)

So yeah, I don't know if you guys get it at this point, but I think Tich is phenomenal. A lot of the comments on her youtube videos call for her to try out for X Factor, but if we're being honest, I don't think she needs it. She is wonderful on her own and I can't imagine she'll stay unknown for much longer. And if she does, than I have lost faith in the industry.

Go Download: Aside from the free download on her Facebook (which is also the Official Anti Bullying Ambassadors Campaign Song), we unfortunately don't have anything else to add to our iPods. Luckily, technology allows us to access youtube on just about anything now.

Have I mentioned that she's amazing yet? Thank you Louis!

All Night Affair

http://www.facebook.com/allnightaffair

It was pretty late last night/this morning when I decided it was time to go to sleep. I was drifting off when my email alert on my phone sounded. Now, normally, I would have ignored it and continued on my path to blissful coma but for some reason I was like "Let me just take a look at that." The email in question was none other than a Twitter follow from All Night Affair. Again, I probably would have ignored it until morning, but something kept me pressing forward and I found myself on All Night Affair's youtube channel. I clicked on the first video that had popped up-- a cover of The Fray's "Over My Head (Cable Car)"-- and that was when I decided staying up had been an excellent decision. Then his cover of "One Thing" by One Direction caught my eye and that was when I decided on my next Band That Needs Love Too.

All Night Affair consists of Dylan Ronan, who hails from Boston, MA and one of the things that I find most interesting about Mr. Ronan upon going through his Facebook were his influences. How many people do YOU know cite The Maine, The Summer Set and Lady Antebellum under their influences? Not many.

His covers are spot on and I think they're a great way for reaching out to a larger audience but I think where the magic happens is on his own tracks. Currently I'm listening to "Long Way Home" and it's taking all I have not to air guitar to this solo and keep typing. Ronan's vocals are reminiscent of Bryce Avary in my opinion, and I love it. It's like he took all the best bits of the bands I love (The Rocket Summer, The Summer Set, etc) and shoved them all together to create lighthearted, happy, pop-rock. Quite fitting if I do say so myself, ya know, since it's summer and all.

If anything, this is the type of music you pop in when you're planning on being out in the sun. At a beach? All Night Affair. Roadtrippin'? All Night Affair. Chillin' in my backyard because the beach is too far and I don't have the money to roadtrip? All Night Affair.

I think you get the point. I also think you get that I'm really pushing for you to go listen to him. So what are you doing still here?!

Go Download: You can get "Long Way Home" for free on Facebook!

(I couldn't resist, okay.)