Luke Sital-Singh
Save for a vote of confidence from his primary-school head teacher, who gave him a lead role in an end-of-term production on the strength of his vocal audition, Luke Sital-Singh wasn’t exactly showered with praise for his singing during his childhood and adolescence. This may strike you as surprising (it strikes me as outrageous), given the crucial part Luke’s voice – sometimes tentative, vulnerable, sometimes visceral and emotionally raw – plays in his music.
His debut album ‘The Fire Inside’, released last year saw him compared to the likes of Neil Young & Bon Iver with songs that switch suddenly between bare-bones finger-picked guitar and propulsive, massed-harmony euphoria. And, at the centre of it all, carrying the songs, giving them devastating emotional heft, is Luke’s voice. It’s beautiful, tender, bruised, tremulous, defiant.
Already tipped for greatness with inclusions in the BBC Sound of 2014 poll, iTunes’ New Artists
“A new talent who already has the sound of greatness to him.” The Sunday Times Culture
“Astonishing… The voice. That’s the thing. A cracked, vulnerable sound rising in strength during the verse and soaring in the chorus… full of anger and hope, passion and beauty.” The Telegraph
“This tremulous-voiced troubadour could be a British Bon Iver, destined to take folk traditions in unexpected directions.” The Guardian