There goes another fantastic year for music. 2014 has brought us some excellent new music, artists, bands, some incredible comebacks and even better albums. Of course, we at Ears Peeled, enjoying going through all of them and finding the 5 best new artists, song and artist of the year. For the latter, you can get a preview on Instagram. How about we start with Artist of the Year? Here are the Top 5. Read on...
Starting at #5, is Sia. Though she has been discreetly collaborating with some of the biggest names in music for years, this year has been her year to shine bright on her own. With a smash hit like "Chandelier" it was hard not to be; the song came out on 17/03 and still now, on 12/29, is still going strong. Not one to rest on her laurels, she went on to sing with artists such as Eminem, David Guetta and Angel Haze to name just a few. We had our eyes on FKA Twigs, since quite some time, since we began this blog. She was always one of our favourite. And this year, she is undeniably our #3. It is safe to say that 2014 has been the FKA Twigs year. Releasing a new album that has been (of course) critically acclaimed, touring around the globe to sold out shows, being nominated for the Mercury Award for (a well deserved) British Album of 2014 AND Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for LP1, and making people fall in love with her music around the world with tunes such as "Two Weeks", hands down one of the sexiest song you'll ever hear in your entire lifetime. Well... we kind of ran out of space to add more achievements. That says it all really. | Coming at #4 and little over a year old, Royal Blood has taken the world of music by storm with their self-titled album. They were nominated for the Mercury Prize this year and were one of the most popular acts at some of the biggest Summer Festivals all over Europe. It's not hard to see why with incredible songs such as "Figure It Out" or "Ten Tonne Skeleton", all you can do is just love this supremely talented duo and pray for more music in 2015. Not only has Ed Sheerans' album "X" been #1 in the charts in more than 10 countries, but it's also made Platinum too many times to count and was in the Top 5 three times as best album of 2014. Of course, that's nothing compared to the very impressive 26 Award nomination and wins this year alone. He's been touring non-stop since last year around the world to sold out arenas and managed to stay humble and completely down-to-earth. That alone is an achievement on it's own. We would have been floating somewhere over the globe by now with our heads the size of a balloon. That's why he's #2. |
| Though we admit we are die hard Sam Smith fans, we were completely objective when we decided to put him at #1. Because, let's face it, he earned that position all on his own. Don't believe us? Let's break it down, shall we... Starting with awards: In 2014 alone, he's been nominated at the Brit Awards (2), BBC Sound of 2014, MOBO Awards (4), MTV Brand New for 2014, MTV Europe music awards (4) and MTV Video Music Awards (4), Q Awards (1), Young Hollywood Awards (3), American Music Awards (2), People's Choice Awards (4) AND the Grammys (6). Now, that's a total of 32 awards! 32!! Do we even need to get into the chart-topping? Do we?? |