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

String Theory are taking over Sin City this Wednesday to celebrate the release of their storming new single “I’m Here” (LISTEN HERE) and their bringing their mates, curating a top notch evening of live music. The last time I caught String Theory, it was with a very similar line up in Sin City when Vanilla headlined - and it went OFF!

String Theory is a small collective of millennials from Swansea who like to produce music with grungy guitar, hard hitting drums, thick bass and nasty vocals. Meeting in school, the members quickly discovered a mutual love for Radiohead and promptly started a band. The members are currently 17/18 years of age and are still in school. The band are currently gigging locally and have been giving away bedroom made demos on CDs to fans at gigs.

There was crowd surfing, sweat, bouncing crowds, sweat, a display of raucous noise & energy and more sweat. It was certainly a night to remember, and we’re sure that this one will be no different.

Vanilla will bring the indie vibes, Valley boys & recently announced as part of Forté 2019 Sssnakes will bring their high energy alternative sound & completing the lineup bringing their exciting indie sounds is The Furns.

It’s only £3. What else would you be doing on a Wednesday night that beats doing this!? Go party with the best in upcoming music in Swansea & South Wales.

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

There's been an absolute feast of local bands playing Sin City over the last month or so (massive big up to Gary and the team at Sin for this & for forever supporting the Swansea music scene) - and this weekend see's a proper good showcase of the young, up & coming talent in the city. 

Vanilla are one of the most exciting young bands we've come across over the last year. Their shows are always packed full of energy, sweaty and really good fun. Vanilla are Dan, Keiran, Osian and newly appointed bassist James and will be playing their first (and probably not their last at the rate they're going) headline show at Sin City. Check out their live recording of "See" below, recorded at Creature Sound. 

Joining them are previous artist of week String Theory, another young band we're really excited about, alternative South Wales Valley rockers Sssnakes (not to be confused with Swansea's Ssssnakes) and new female fronted band Vain. 

Having a browse through String Theory's Soundcloud back catalogue is unbelievably reassuring; five tracks that show a consistent ability to develop their craft, their approach and their style while maintaining a core sound that is vibrant, relentless and exhilarating.

Their most recent offering is a noticeable step up in production quality from the more garage'y demos previously released, and it's here that you see these four "millennials from Swansea" really coming into their own.

'17' is a pounding journey through adolescence and tackles the burgeoning decent into adulthood with a rather apt hypnotic quality to the weaving, repetitive guitar lines and gruelling rhythm throughout - the latter of which is beautifully captured too. Kudos to the producer - whoever they may be!

There's a sneering quality about the track that is reminiscent of their contemporaries Pretty Vicious and a toying, playful bent throughout à la 'Dookie'-era Green Day. Going off on a slight tangent, but I find something in '17' that's comforting; in much the same way I might feel when listening to tracks I've grown up with - like a big, warm musical hug...

Back on track.

Simply put; String Theory make me excited about young music coming out of Swansea.

String Theory Soundcloud | String Theory Facebook | String Theory Twitter | String Theory Instagram

Written by: Joe Bayliss