The Next Alt-J?

Alt-J are one of our best known exports outside of the academic world.

The band met in halls in 2007 and recorded early demos out of their student rooms before going on to release Mercury Music Award winning album An Awesome Wave in May 2012.

But which Leeds student artist is the most likely to become the next household name?

Ben Khan

Leeds graduate Ben Khan is an enigmatic producer singer/songwriter mining a similar vein of inspiration as modern contemporary Jai Paul. His sleek production and intensely dark yet soulful vocals have had the blog world in a quiet frenzy. Recent airplay on Zane Lowe’s ‘Radio 1 Future Sounds’ for debut release Drive (Part 1) has helped to increase the hype around this guy and with new single Eden hot off the press, you’re likely to be hearing a lot more from him.

Purple Emperors

Purple Emperors are a  five piece band of current Leeds students who play melodic acoustic songs complete with soaring harmonies and rising strings. With the current explosion in media-dubbed ‘nu-folk’, this band encapsulates the sound of the breakthrough bands of the moment. With artists such as Kodaline, Passenger and of course the Glastonbury headlining, Mumford & Sons leading the charge for the genre, the timing could not be better for Purple Emperors. Recent successes have come in the form of BBC Introducing Airplay and victory in the Jack Daniels Roots Competition, with two EPs: Purple Emperors and Plume already under their belts, momentum is building steadily behind them.

Breen

Finally there’s Leeds Met’s Student Breen, another ‘bedroom producer’ earning ringing endorsements in the blog-world for debut EP Say What You Want. Breen’s style incorporates elements from across the board, taking in Soul, Funk, Pop and R’n’B influences and reworking them into a sound which is uniquely recognisable. His polished production is coupled with radio-friendly vocal hooks and just the right amount of grit creating tunes which are instantly catchy and yet, very different. The stand out title track Say What You Want garnered support from various websites across the net, including avocation from clothing company Drop Dead. With more tunes in the pipeline, Breen is not a name to be forgotten.