Happy New Year! After what we can safely say was an incredibly exciting 2018 for the Swansea music scene, we’re beyond excited for what this year will bring! After weeks of discussions, lots of conversations and opinions of those around the city, we’ve done our best to compile a list of 10 acts that we’re really excited about for 2019. The list genuinely could have been twice as long, which shows the strength of the acts coming out of Swansea right now - but here are our 10 shortlisted acts to get excited about this year…

AidenKeryn

It’s hard to ignore how far AidenKeryn has come in the last year. Still in sixth form, Aiden’s been putting an almighty shift in - gigging extensively and writing/releasing tunes that show how much of a talent she really is for someone so young!

With new music undoubtably on the horizon and a slot already secured at this year’s FOCUS Wales showcase festival in Wrexham (who, as a festival, might we add, don’t mess around with selecting the best in up & coming talent) 2019 is set to be huge for Aiden!

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All Dead, All Dead

What a year All Dead, All Dead had last year - they’ve achieved a ridiculous amount in such a short space of time! With shows in Kiev, Amsterdam and closer to home (including headlining The Bunkhouse for the Swansea Fringe Festivals) and with 3 incredible releases already under their belt, we are super excited about these guys and what’s to come!

All Dead, All Dead - Are we lucky? (lyric video) Swansea based three piece.

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Eleri Angharad

Country/Pop queen of Swansea Eleri Angharad is a credit to our music scene. Forever supporting other artists & gigs but also working ridiculously hard to record and release her own stuff! With an album coming out in 2019 & a special tour in the works, this year is going to be huge for Eleri!

So excited to announce my latest single This Ship, with an official video created by myself and Fine Rolling Media! Filmed on the gorgeous Bracelet Bay with the backdrop of my hometown of Swansea and my living room, the video really brings the song to life for me..

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News From Nowhere

Psychedelic indie / art rockers News From Nowhere are set to have a very exciting 2019. Every show they play and every tune they release always stop us in our tracks - high musicianship, well thought out compositions and just a really great band. Fingers crossed we’ll have some new music from them in 2019 - they’re album “.​.​.​and the human had half” is one of our favourite albums to come out of Swansea - definitely check it out.

Taken from our brand new album, available here; https://newsfromnowhere1.bandcamp.com/album/and-the-human-had-half This is the one acoustic song on the album, and features Emlyn Cai Hinton on violin and flute. Jack Patrick - percussion Will Evans - bass Tom Emlyn - guitar, keyboards, vocals A song about leaving, coming home and everything that happens in-between.

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Only Fools and Corpses

In late November we were sent a link to “Support Your Local Scene” by Only Fools and Corpses - grabbed immediately by the title of the track and the name of the band we eagerly went to watch the video. What we were greeted with was a cacophony of noisy, angry punk matched with a superb video and we absolutely loved it. More of this in 2019 please boys!

SYLS. Recorded at Mwnci Studios, November 2018. Stream / purchase at: Bandcamp: http://www.onlyfools.bandcamp.com Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2rbX5bx Find us at: Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/onlyfoolsandcorpsescru/ Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/ofandc/ Thank you to Sam, Charlotte, Hunter, Josh and Tom for helping us film the video.

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Pastel

It’s very hard to ignore the stamp that Pastel have left on the music scene in 2018. With their shoegazy rock n roll that channels all your favourite Britpop bands, Pastel are set to have a monumental 2019 starting off with a headline show in the Bunkhouse late January.

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Sarah Birch

There’s lots to be excited about for Lost Tuesday Society front woman Sarah Birch and her solo stuff! With an album on the way and plenty of live shows we’re certain this year is going to be huge for Sarah! If her single “The Rain Dance” is anything to go off - we’re all in for a very special treat!

The debut single from Sarah Birch's forthcoming album 'The ballad of Peter and Jane'. Featured on the record are: The Mavron String Quartet, String arrangements by Seb Goldfinch. Rich Jordan ( The warbirds)

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Soundwire

Gorgeous psychedelic soundscapes & a superb live show. This is the impression that we have from Soundwire after we booked them for the Swansea Fringe Festival last year. What a band!! With their self titled album due out on February 4th, 2019 is undoubtably going to be huge for these guys - and we can’t wait!

Single OUT NOW. Video directed by Pedro Wilde Music by Soundwire (c) 2018 www.facebook.com/soundwiremusic

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String Theory

We caught String Theory three times in 2018, and each time we did we were totally blown away - not only by their superb sound but by the consistent reaction of their fans - who all go mental for every show! With two great singles “I’m here” and “17” under their belt, we’re excited for more from these young alternative / indie rockers!

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Vanilla

One of Swansea’s favourite young indie party bands Vanilla have had a storming 2018 - and we cannot wait to hear more from them in 2019. A huge number of shows (each one we’ve been to has been mental, sweaty and showcases some of the finest crowd surfing we’ve seen!) and a superb debut single have made Vanilla a force to be reckoned with. More of the same this year we hope!

Take a shot every time you see James naked x Check us out on: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Vanillabanduk/ Twitter https://twitter.com/vanillabanduk Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vanillauk Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/vanilla-official Bandcamp https://vanillauk.bandcamp.com/releases

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Written by Simon Parton

Photo featured by RaymontyPhotos

The Swansea music scene is currently going through a really exciting time - there's lots of great opportunities on the horizon, the spotlight will be firmly on Swansea during the BBC Biggest Weekend in May, and there seems to be a lot more gigs being put on across the city.

But perhaps the most exciting thing is the young bands that are emerging from the music scene and already getting a name for themselves. One young band at the forefront of this buzz is Pastel. 

Pastel are a 5 piece rock & roll / shoe gaze band consisting of Jack Yates (Vocals), Aaron Tormey (Lead guitar), James Yates (Rhythm guitar), Jake Smith (Bass) & Rhys Wheeler (Drums). The band have members originally from Manchester, Dublin and Swansea and were formed due to Jack missing his train back to Manchester after seeing the Stone Roses in Wembley. 

It's impressive to see a band make such an impression on the local scene after only being together for little over 7 months, with their first gig only in November of last year. Already the band have played shows in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea venues Britpop Cafe, Mozarts and The Hyst. They also have a show supporting The Riff in Sin City next month (13th April 2018). 

Most notably, the band won the Wave & Student Digz' battle of the bands competition in The Hyst earlier this month winning a slot supporting Scouting For Girls at Neath Carnival in July. Check out their winning set below: 

It's really encouraging to see a band working hard, producing decent tunes and gigging around South Wales with great enthusiasm & ambition. We're really excited at what's to come from these guys, They've been kind enough to share a live recording of their tune "Tomorrow's Afternoon" with us too, which you can listen to below.

Pastel Facebook | Pastel Instagram

Written by Simon Parton