As far as I can gather, GBSmith aka George Brooke-Smith is eighteen years old, and having listened to his music, you may this rather hard to believe. His eloquent lyrics and handsome vocals display a maturity far beyond his tender age, yet it’s his partially his inexperience that makes Blood such a vividly engaging listen. ‘I like the girls with the blue eyes and the brown stare’ laments Smith with such an admirable honesty, scarcely found in modern music. Entirely acoustic, Blood excels upon it’s minimal albeit all-encompassing feel, drawing the listener in and then breaking their heart. Check out Blood below.

It’s been eight months since our ears were first graced with the sublime, audacious beauty of Video Games. Eight short months in which we’ve loved, hated, mocked, obsessed over and idolized Lana Del Rey to the point of literary exhaustion. Despite a mixed critical consensus (‘For all it’s coos about love and devotion, it’s the album equivalent of a faked orgasm’ – Pitchfork), her debut album Born To Die is racing to the top of the UK charts; appearing that, like her or not, Elizabeth Grant has well and truly arrived.

It’s been far from smooth sailing for the New York songstress, whom initially rose to fame after the phenomenal viral success of what seemed at first glance, to be a cutesy, homemade music video, undisturbed by the interring hand of the mainstream media. Clocking up an astonishing two millions views within a week of being online, Video Games had esteemed bloggers frothing at the lips, scouring internet dictionaries for adjectives to hoard upon the angelic Lizzy Grant. Through the guileless eye it was to be assumed that Lana Del Rey had strolled onto the scene as a perfectly assembled, unblemished popstar, with a raft of original, ingenious songs under her slender belt. Simply in the right place at the right time.

As so often is the case, not all was as innocent as it seemed. Blog-extraordinaire Hipster Runoff took it upon themselves to pick up the shovel and delve into Grant’s past and present, revealing her history as a relatively exhausted club-circuit performer and daughter of a domain-shark tycoon. Photos of her previous incarnation showed her sporting more regularly sized lips and an au naturale image, whilst hanging with socialites at top Brooklyn haunts. Musically she was drastically different, with her ‘debut’ album released through a local independent label named 5 Points proving barely distinguishable from her newer, overly dramatic, self-proclaimed ‘sadcore’. For many there was only one logical explanation – Grant had kicked her chances of ‘making it’ through hardwork, impeccable songwriting and good fortune, instead choosing to enlist the support of a world-renowned PR firm and climb into the disheveled bed of a major label.

The blogosphere was shaken by these revelations, and reacted in the only way that socially-awkward people know – with an unprecedented level of disgust. Articles began cropping up declaring their repugnance at what they perceived to be an abuse of trust, “but you told us she was independent” bawled the relevant bloggers, whilst Hipster Runoff practically transformed itself into the hub for all Lana Del Rey related news. The blogosphere helped create a monster then sacrificed it’s pride by fleeing at the first sight of commercial and critical success. Yet amidst all the negative press, suspect SNL performances and utterly bizarre interviews, few asked the all important question – “what about the music?”.

Sure, Lizzy Grant might not be the defectless pop princess that we’d all envisioned her to be, however her faultless, exquisitely alluring alter-ego Lana Del Rey is a part that she plays to exemplary effect. It’s common knowledge that LDR is far from a true extension of her own personality, and what we should remember is that each TV appearance, interview or even record release, is a performance, in the most forthright sense of the word. Her persona is entirely adopted and, if you believe the vicious rumours, industry refined, yet since when has that been such a heinous crime?

Bowie, one of the greatest popstars and songwriters ever to have lived, juggled numerous personalities throughout his career, some successful (Aladdin Sane), others not so much (Arnold Corns), yet all incredulously engaging. To lambast him for not being true to himself or emanating a misleading image is practically unheard of, so why should anyone else hiding behind a veil of split personalities be the victim of such animosity? Taking a more recent example, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta isn’t a name that all would instantaneously recognize, yet under the guise of her pseudonym Lady Gaga, she’s widely regarded as one of the world’s finest popstars. Show me someone who sincerely believes that Gaga’s quirky concept is entirely the brainchild of Germanotta and I’ll show you a liar.

Accusing Grant of depending almost solely on her image to promote her music (and consequently sales) is a rather naive and blinkered stance to take. Since the invention of the camera, visually motivated works, most notably sexually orientated, have been used to propagandize and sell music. As humans we feel comforted and reassured with being able to put a face to a composition, so manipulating instinct by capitalizing on an attractive and seductive appearance is hardly exploiting an unfamiliar hypothesis.

As it just so happens, I rather like Lana Del Rey’s debut album for what it is; a disjointed collection of overly dramatic, Americana-obsessed pop gems. There’s moments of beauty (Without You, Video Games), unstifled arrogance (Off To The Races, Blues Jeans), and even the odd glistening diamond (Dark Paradise, Radio). Whilst it may be far from coherent as a listening experience and thoroughly embracing the iTunes driven generation which we live amongst, it’s a dam sight better than the majority of ‘music’ polluting the charts nowadays. Give me Lana’s sumptuous vocals and knack for writing a killer chorus over the karaoke warble of Adele or Florence’s dire songwriting capabilities any day of the week.

In recent years, a vast percentage of respected critics appearing to be endorsing the opinion that a sizable proportion of popular music is horrendously bad, with a miniscule slither being overwhelmingly good, and that this is simply an inevitability. Having the charts dominated by uninspired dross a la Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Ke$ha etc is a sorry state of affairs, yet by no means does it automatically compromise the reputability of all chart music. The standard album format we’ve come to expect from major label artists of ten tracks, containing three or four singles and the rest filler, shouldn’t be accepted as the norm, so artists like Lana Del Rey deserve recognition for attempting to prove herself as an exception.

It would have been all to easy for Lana Del Rey to rope in a couple of high profile rappers for Born To Die, alongside casting a handful of celebrities in her music videos; a popular tactic at the moment amongst shameless, talent-devoid popstars. Take Madonna, whom earlier this week announced her comeback with new video Give Me All Your Luvin’, an abhorrent piece of music, therefore no surprise that she felt it necessary to call in the help of M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj to raise the ‘relevancy’ of the track. For all Lana’s flaws, you have to admire her self-confidence and belief in her own artistic merit. The charts have become bogged down by dishwater dull artists, lacking in originality and diversity, hence the colossal increase in forced, almost incestuous collaborations over the past couple of years. If ever pop music needed a fresh faced figurehead it’s now, and Lana fills those slippers perfectly.

Amongst the depressing number of band reformations involving washed up, overrated, money-hungry individuals, it’s energizing to find an artist experimenting with her trade by combining tried and tested methods with modern, digitally inclined suppositions. Nobody is denying the commercial backing and intentions that bolster Lana Del Rey’s success, however to dismiss her every aspect on those grounds alone is a misinformed and ignorant demeanor to embrace. When the dreaded day comes that all money has been drained from the music industry (and it will), consequently removing financial incentives, then we can judge artists upon an even keel. Although until that day arrives, I’m more than content with having to filter through the industry-processed popstars to discover the truly artistically valuable gems; and Lana Del Rey is a sparkling diamond.

Having wowed fans all across the UK in 2011 with their unique brand of no-frills-attached indie pop gems, North East quintet Vinyl Jacket return with new single Red Light. As always, the new track comes accompanied by a fantastically original, quirky video, complete with luminous facepaints, a plethora of dancers and even the lads themselves throwing some shapes. Premiered by Huw Stephens and Greg James earlier last month, Red Light is a near perfect slice of indie pop heaven; worthy of gracing dancefloors throughout the country.

Red Light is released 5 March through The Calico Print.

Few people have enjoyed a past twelve months as productive and as exhilarating as Logan Hyde. Tour guitarist with close-friend Trevor Powers aka Boise sensation Youth Lagoon, who’ve just been announced as one of the support acts for Death Cab For Cutie’s extensive US tour, as well as being tweeted by Jessica Alba, it’s been a year that has surpassed any of their expectations. Now Hyde has re-worked a track from his solo-project Hypno Safari, to wondrous effect, and whilst I don’t normally repost tracks, however Shade needs to be heard.

With a riff as addictive as the likes of Youth Lagoon’s Montana, yet with a grittier element thrown into them mix for good measure, Hypno Safari embodies the sort of honesty and integrity that we’ve come to expect from Boise musicians. Check out Shade below.

It’s clear from the off that Oxford’s Tom Jenkinson aka North Bay is no slacker. Having released his debut track, the scintillating Breath only a couple of days back, he’s dropped another ambient masterpiece in the form of Echo. Clocking in at over five minutes, Echo is a stunning journey, through hymnal-esque vocals and perfectly timed handclaps. What makes this track even more wonderful is it’s reassuring self-belief, despite it’s fragile elements. Check out Echo below.

It’s bizarre the coincidences that life throws up from time to time. Take Let’s Away, the North East’s current ‘buzz band’, whom having heard a couple of tracks from the duo and deciding to write about them, I, as I always do, performed a quick Google search to gather some more information on the two-piece, and promptly discovered that I used to play football alongside one of their members. Strange, huh?

Anyway, all that aside, the two tracks that Let’s Away have unleashed so far are emotionally fraught slices of indie-pop, taking on a very 60′s-esque mantra, and verging upon becoming full-blown ballads. Only In The Dark is a slow-burner; melodic and despondent in style, like Alex Turner at his utmost remorseful, whereas Art Of Self Control displays a rougher edge, retelling a seemingly extremely personal affair. Whilst the duo’s website looks rather bare at the moment, and they’re yet to perform live, I anticipate it only being a matter of time before they begin to cause some serious waves. Check out both tracks below.

There’s a paper thin line between folk and pop; one that disgruntled hipsters will undoubtedly argue over the placement of until the end of time. Up until Bon Iver was nominated for a Grammy late last year, many would have categorized his sophomore record under the aforementioned dreaded ‘f word’ (others also would have used a similarly sounding ‘f word to describe it’), now it appears the backlash has well and truly kicked in. The same walkman carrying, beret wearing, new music junkies who initially branded Bon Iver the new Nick Drake, are now choosing to compare Vernon to a lesser Phil Collins; a fairly stark change of heart.

One such artist who finds the pop-folk balance in a gracious and thoroughly engrossing manner is Newcastle troubadour Ajimal, the moniker of Fran O’Hanlon. With a concoction of influences so spotless that Walter White himself would envy it’s make up, O’Hanlon’s latest single Footnote To Love [Part One] is a stunning culmination of his life journey to date. Impeccable vocals float wonderfully over a amiably strummed acoustic guitar, at times threatening to open out into a broad, expansive number, yet remaining modestly self-knowing, entrusting itself into O’Hanlon’s nigh on perfect delivery and deeply personal lyrics.

As Footnote To Love [Part One] demands repeated listens due to it’s sheer beauteous atmosphere, B-side Amputated Years pleads despairingly with the listener to be experienced again. A more subdued number, but no less effective, Amputated Years is worthy of a single release in it’s own right, not so much striking a nerve as cutting directly to the core. ‘Oh and how we’ve changed, how we’ve changed my love’ weeps O’Hanlon in a reassuringly disconsolate fashion, displaying his music as all too human, yet bewitchingly supernatural.

Footnote To Love [Part One] / Amputated Years is released 19 March via Pop Sex Ltd, purchase it here.

Berlin two piece miss t.erner conjure up an ethereal atmosphere on their debut track Starship that would bring James Blake out in a cold sweat. With the Blake-esque beat rumbling beneath the surface and elegant, ever-so-tender vocals hovering alluring over a refined piano section, it’s a stunning composition. The repeated lyric “I try so hard, that it breaks my heart”, will be echoing around your head for hours after several listens. Whilst I can find no information whatsoever on the duo, aside from the quote on their myspace page – “Miss t.erner is a sound-accoustic marriage between the Berlin based Mr. Terner and Miss T of Sweden”, I’m extremely excited to hear more. Check out Starship below.

Hailing from Frankfurt, Jogging House released  ’Relations‘ this week after releasing his debut EP towards the end of last year. With the first EP having gone under my radar, I’m more than happy to make up lost time after having ‘Relations‘ brought to my attention, as Jogging House has crafted a fine blend of electronics and infectiously rhythmic beats that is a delight to the ear.

Describing his sound as ‘synthesizers and samples drowned in reverb and delay‘ with a spice of ‘80′s nostalgia‘, Jogging House has pretty much hit the nail on the head. Moving between a range of tempos with a endearingly calm grace, the EP holds influences of RnB, while infusing this with an air of melancholy. Make sure to check out ‘Why?‘ in particular.

I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure of writing about many South African artists before, so to feature Cape Town’s LA.VI is most likely a CitR first. Having toured their home country extensively, and built up quite a following, the quartet are gearing up to release their debut LP later this year. Lead single Far Away Place is an upbeat, indie-pop number, drawing inspiration from Florence & The Machine, yet maintaining some semblance of songwriting sensibility. With the UK indie scene pitilessly staggering onto it’s cellulite infested last legs, it would be refreshing to see an act from outside our home country achieving critical success, and LA.VI may just be that band. Stream Far Away Place below.