Tom Odell, Laura Mvula and AlunaGeorge have been tipped to follow in the footsteps of the of Adele, Florence and the Machine and Emeli Sande with the announcement of the shortlist for the Brit Awards Critics’ choice award.
Previous winners of the prestigious award have gone on to unprecedented global success, selling millions of albums between them. The Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sande’s debut effort, Our Version of Events has recently been announced as the biggest selling album of 2012, making the coveted award that more desirable for the winner.

 

While many already tip the phenomenal Tom Odell for the award, it will be interesting to see if the carefully selected panel of music industry experts chosen to decide the winner bestow the award upon either AlunaGeorge, a duo whose roots lie in the London underground scene, or Laura Mvula, the Birmingham born singer-songwriter whose vocals are comparable with the likes of Nina Simone.

 

Odell, has previously had exposure to the masses with a slot on the Later… With Jules Holland show, ensuring an inevitable rise to fame for the Chichester born songwriter. Comparisons of his smooth, haunting vocals are often made between that of the late, great Jeff Buckley, a comparison which can be felt in tracks such as the beautiful “Can’t Pretend” and “Sense”.

 

The signature style of AlunaGeorge is a delightful combination of the ingenious electronic producer George Reid along with the 90’s R&B style vocalist Aluna Francis, penning insanely catchy tracks such as “You know you like it” and “Your Drums, Your Love”. As with Odell, the duo have had heavy exposure to the masses on Radio 1, with their hit “You know you like it” chosen as the week’s Big Thing for Huw Stephens.

 

The award is to be announced on the 20th December, followed by a performance of the winner’s stand-out single at the annual Brit Awards ceremony. If you haven’t had the pleasure of listening to any of the three artists, here are the highlights from each.

 

Words: Darren Ferry