Ones to Watch in 2012: Emeli Sandé

I love it when America discovers someone talented that the rest of the world has known about for months, even years! Today, the talent I'm referring to is Scottish singer/songwriter Emeli Sandé.  Sandé is due to release her debut album, Our Version of Events on June 5th via Capitol Records.  This is HUGE! I'm envisioning lots of promotion, performances on The Tonight Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show (except I think Ellen is on hiatus in the summer), it's going to massive. Capitol better promote the hell out of this supreme being. She deserves some Stateside recognition, for sure!

Sandé is already off to a promising start in her native UK, releasing debut single "Heaven" last August and having it debut in the #2 spot on the UK Singles Chart.  Aside from garnering the adoration of some of her musical contemporaries like Adele and Alicia Keys, Sandé has already won the prestigious BRIT Critics' Choice award (won in the past by Adele and Florence + The Machine), and was nominated for the Breakthrough British Artist award.  We'll have to wait until February 21st to see if she wins.  As if these accolades aren't enough, Sandé was also hand picked by Coldplay to open for the band on their European tour.  Follow up single "Daddy" (featuring Naughty Boy), which came out at the end of November, wasn't as fortunate, only coming in at #21.  We've all seen this before - first single is a top 5 hit, second single just barely outside of the top 20, third single 40+ and BAM. Dropped. I am hoping and praying that this does not become Emeli Sandé's fate.  The third single, entitled "Next To Me" is scheduled for release on February 12th, followed by the album's UK release the next day.

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Hot Video Alert: Emeli Sandé feat. Naughty Boy - Daddy

Scottish soul singer/songwriter Emeli Sandé could very well be one of my favorite new artists of the past year.  While Sandé first came to the attention of UK music fans after a feature on English rapper Chipmunk's debut single, "Diamond Rings" I first heard her sultry sounds with the release last year of Wiley's "Never Be Your Woman", a catchy dubstep jam.  The song featured a hearty dose of one of my favorite songs, White Town's "Your Woman," sung by none other than Emeli Sandé.  As talented a songwriter as she is a solo singer, Sandé has written for a bevvy of UK artists including Cher Lloyd, Susan Boyle, Preeya Kalidas, Leona Lewis, Cheryl Cole, Tinie Tempah and more.  Since featuring with Wiley, Sandé has emerged on her own as a soulful R&B artist with a fantastic voice and plenty of style to match.

After signing a lucrative publishing deal with EMI Music Publishing back in 2010, it was announced that Virgin Records had given the songstress a record deal of her own which produced the hit single, "Heaven" (peaking at #2 on the Official UK Singles Chart) back in August of 2011.  New single, "Daddy" was released November 27th and debuted at a respectable #21.  The two songs serve as the first taste of what's to come on Sandé's forthcoming debut album, Our Version of Events, which is due out February 6th.  In addition to doing her own music, Sandé recently featured on Professor Green's # hit UK single "Read All About It," and turned out a stunning live performance of the track on the UK's X-Factor.  This lady is far too talented for the UK to keep her all to themselves. Here's hoping she gets some love in America at some point in 2012.  In the meantime, download "Daddy" on UK iTunes HERE with remixes by Fred V & Grafix, Disclosure, Third Party, Cyantific and Ifan Dafydd and check out the video below.

Check out Emeli Sandé on the web:  

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//YouTube

New Kelly Clarkson & Daniel Merriweather!

According to both Arjan Writes and Billboard, Kelly Clarkson's new single, "My Life Would Suck Without You" is due out on January 19th! So close! Apparently this album (from what insiders have heard so far) is very reminiscent of "Breakaway." This is good news. I admit that I kind of enjoyed a few tracks off "My December" but not nearly as much as I enjoyed "Breakaway."

Also on Arjan Writes, the video for Aussie singer Daniel Merriweather's new single called "Change," featuring Wale. Daniel Merriweather was the voice behind Mark Ronson's brilliant tune last year "Stop Me." He's big in demand now as a featured artist, also appearing as a guest vocalist on Wiley's new track, "Ca$h In My Pocket." Merriweather is uber-talented and very cute to boot...so can't wait for his upcoming solo project. Check out a promotional single that came out a while back called "Chainsaw." The boy's got chops!