Scott Gray – ‘Maybe It’s You’

Scott Gray grew up in a small town in rural Illinois, in an extremely sheltered community, without much access to discovering popular music. He saw a local news story about Christian singer/songwriter Amy Grant, and suddenly found he had a favourite artist. He started playing piano, and chose to learn every song by Amy, and her contemporary Christian artists, such as Michael W Smith. All changed however when Gray’s step-uncle said to him – “If you ever want to make something of yourself in the music industry, you’re gonna have to write your own songs” – and started working on his own tunes immediately.

Hop Along – ‘How Simple’

When Philadelphia quartet Hop Along released their second album, ‘Painted Shut’ back in 2015, their fans have wondered what they would come up with next. The mesmerising album which was denoted by frontwoman Frances Quinlan’s storytelling, found its way to “best of” lists from the likes of Vice, Stereogum, and Consquence Of Sound, and much was made of their idiosyncratic sound – classic songwriting albeit with alternatively humorous and horrifying lyrics, subtle intricacy in terms of their rhythm section, dark production, and Quinlan’s voice itself.