X AMBASSADORS • BETTY WHO • THE CHAINSMOKERS • JON BELLION • BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB • SWITCHFOOT VARIANCETHE SIGHTS + SOUNDS YOU LOVE 40 ALBUMS TO WATCH FOR IN 2014 BASTILLE t ANGEL HAZE PHANTOGRAM JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW THE FUTURESOUNDS ISSUE VOICES THAT WILL REIGN THIS YEAR VOL. 5, ISSUE 1 | FEB_WINTER 2014 AVAILBLE NOW AT SKULLCANDY.COM @SKULLCANDY / FEATURING KAI OTTON Variancemagazine_Navigator_Kai.indd 1 12/14/12 3:10 PM TAPE MIX JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW PHANTOGRAM LILY ALLEN “Gold” “Black Out Days” “Hard Out Here” by @AlainUlises by @OJandCigs by @AleksaConic WINTER2014 VANCOUVER SLEEP CLINIC CHILDISH GAMBINO BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB “Collapse” “telegraph ave. (‘Oakland’ by Lloyd)” “Carry Me” by @Jedshepherd by @tylersduke by @mardycum ANGEL HAZE FEAT. SIA JAMIE N COMMONS & X AMBASSADORS LO-FANG “Battle Cry” “Jungle” “#88” by @jenryannyc zz by @JK1KJ by @6n6challenge SAM SMITH MATTHEW MAYFIELD “Money on My Mind” “Heartbeat” by @AllenOVCH by @MissBehavinC YOU CREATE THE PLAYLIST ST. VINCENT "Digital Witness" Annie Clark foreshadows her new album with this catchy tune FIRSTTHINGSFIRST PHOTO BY KIM ERLANDSEN You” shot up the blogosphere last summer when video of a marriage proposal utilizing the song went viral. She’s since signed to RCA Records and is working on her major label debut. Also on the roster are X Ambassadors, the little band that could from Ithaca, N.Y. After teaming up with Alex Da Kid, who can do no wrong, in our opinion, the ris- ing act is expected to release a full-length this year. And based on everything we’ve heard so far, these guys will only continue to climb. Bastille, the British band whose “Pompeii” came out s of nowhere and began its epic rise on American radio, q is preparing to hit the U.S. with a new tour and more music in the works. Meanwhile, up-and-coming singer- AFTER WHAT HAD of the most-anticipated new songwriter Jon Bellion is proving he’s one to watch, with to be a landmark year in music releases, which include Kanye stunning singles and breathtaking videos, the writer and pop culture, it’s hard to West, Foo Fighters, Solange, St. behind Eminem and Rihanna’s “The Monster” is quietly imagine topping such extraor- Vincent, Grimes, Wye Oak and prepping to take the world by storm on his own. dinary reunions, albums, televi- so many more. Back for round two, and likely their biggest moment sion moments and cultural In this, our FutureSounds yet, are Bombay Bicycle Club and Phantogram, both events. Despite the raised bar, Issue, we’re highlighting some with brand new albums on the horizon and much more 2014 is already looking rather of the voices you need to hear, perfected sound. While we’ve been covering these acts shiny itself. such as Bahamas and Geog- for years, they’re finally seeing their star rise. And this is While a Beyoncé-like surprise rapher. We also sat down and going to be a big year for both of them. album may or may not be in talked with some of the talent Also back for his second go is Irish singer-songwriter the forecast this year, there whose names and voices will James Vincent McMorrow, with a brand new album are plenty of other records on reign in the coming year. Some and a tour to support it. It’s already one of the best LPs the schedule. From newcom- of them are new, and some of this year, and we expect big things from him this year. ers like Sam Smith, SZA and them are returning fresh, new Then there’s Angel Haze, nominated for BBC’s Sound Vancouver Sleep Clinic, to The energy and brand new projects of 2013 last year and arguably one of the hottest rap- Black Keys and Frank Ocean’s that will catapult them into the pers—male or female—of her generation. But then she much-teased new sets, it will spotlight. leaked her own album and put a whole series of events be a busy year. And in this new Among the new faces is Betty in motion. So what comes next? issue, we’re running down some Who, whose “Somebody Loves Read on, discover and enjoy. VARIANCEMAGAZINE.COM 5 CONTENTS 40 ALBUMS TO WATCH FOR 22 THE MOST EXCITING MUSIC OF 2014 FUTURESOUNDS 36 THE SOUNDS YOU NEED TO HEAR VARIANCE Winter_2014, Vol. 5, Issue 1 Editorial Director Jonathan Robles Managing Editors Rachel Faylene & Weston Shepherd Editor-at-Large Amanda Morad Features Editors Merlyn Hamilton & Emily Hulseberg Editorial Assistants Laurie Tomlinson & Morgan Edwards Contributing Writers Katie Herald Aaron Lachman John Mouser Abby Olsen Eli Provenzano Steven Totten Edwin Wilson Contributing Photographers & Artists Johan Bauwens Sam Boise Greg Chow Dustin Cohen Chad Cooper Dan DeSlover Emma J Doyle Kim Erlandsen Dave Gillespie Jessie Jenkins Nicolas Joubard Shervin Lainez Colin Lane Michael Lavine Derrick Lee Olivia Malone Zackery Michael Brian Nevins Benson Ramsey David Roemer Mark Runyon WINTER MIXTAPE (PLAYLIST) 04 Bobby Quillard BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB 10 George Salisbury THE CHAINSMOKERS 12 Victoria Smith BETTY WHO 14 Alex Stern X AMBASSADORS 16 Misha Taylor PHOTO DIARIES 18 Andrew Whitton SWITCHFOOT 30 Laura Wilson JON BELLION 50 Mike Windle MASON JENNINGS 52 Amy Young ERINN WESTBROOK 54 Web Production & Design REALITY CHECK 56 Nicholas Clayton JP Jones Jonathan Robles Project Development Bryan Norris THE SIGHTS + SOUNDS YOU LOVE PHOTO: FUTURESOUNDS PICK ALFIE JURVANEN www.variancemagazine.com(AKA BAHAMAS) BY DAVE GILLESPIE PHANTOGRAM ANGEL HAZE 32 The electropop duo is returning with a 40 Poised to be one of 2014’s brightest, the brand new album & bold career moves young MC broke the rules. Will it pay off? CONTENTS PHOTO BY XI WEG BASTILLE JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW 44 On the heels of breakout success, the 46 He took a left-field turn and poured out his British outfit looks ahead soul on his new LP. But why? BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB nglish rock outfit Bombay Bicycle Club is set to through some exotic countries with their notably more ex- release their fourth studio album in just five years perimentative new material. on Feb. 4. And for the indie four-piece consisting Although the members of the band are all only 24, their ofE Jack Steadman, Jamie MacColl, Suren de Seram and Ed growth within the last five years has been tremendous. And Nash, their latest album, So Long, See You Tomorrow, is an they’ve built a reputation for constantly releasing diverse, exciting addition to their already extensive library. exciting music and keeps their fans eager for what’s around Variance spoke with guitarist MacColl about the upcoming the corner. release, the evolution of the band and his hopes of further As the tour for the last album, A Different Kind of Fix, popularity in U.S. as the band takes listeners on a journey started to wrap up, writing for the next album began. 10 VARIANCEMAGAZINE.COM BY EMILY HULSEBERG ever reason, it just wasn’t working shown growth and progression. I guess,” explains MacColl. “The But MacColl explains that it isn’t demo sounded really great, and something they initially think I know a lot of the time bands about. “I don’t think we’ve ever do get quite obsessed with their really made conscious decisions demos and kind of get a bit of to do that much, to do things ‘demo-itis’ and think, ‘We can that differently with the music.” never sound better than these So Long, See You Tomorrow is an do,’ but we felt at this point— album that will take Bombay to fourth album and quite a lot of a new level among their musical experience, that we could actu- peers. Once known as an indie- ally do it ourselves.” rock band, the new sounds com- And that’s exactly what they ing from these four push them did. Steadman self-produced the dramatically forward, crossing album, and the way the band sees into a more electronic territory. it, they couldn’t have made a bet- “I do think there is kind of an ter choice. evolution from the previous re- “[We knew] it would be the cord,” explains MacColl. “When best it could be if we were do- we first started messing around ing it ourselves,” says MacColl. with samples and more elec- “So that was quite [an] exciting tronic sounding [sounds], I think thought, and I think [it] kind of a song like ‘Shuffle was the start drove us on more to make the of us experimenting a bit more songs as good as they could be with making a different kind of ourselves. In the past we might music.” have been able to say we [felt] a The band is set to tour the bit stuck with this, like hopefully new album starting in Europe a producer will have an idea, but throughout February, and Mac- we didn’t have the safety net to Coll is excited to get a chance to fall on, so it drove us on a lot.” expand their fan base in the U.S. Without the help or direction as well. “I really love traveling from an outside producer, the around [the States], so it would band made an album that is 100 be nice to do it in a nicer way percent their own. It’s all Bom- than we’ve done in the past,” he bay Bicycle Club. laughs. Of course, the record was great- Still being so young and having ly influenced by Steadman’s trav- practically grown up together, els. “There are some quite promi- MacColl says the band hasn’t nent Bollywood samples on the had any trouble when it comes record,” MacColl explains.