The BBC’s annual bellwether poll of music critics and industry insiders has been taken, and British singer/songwriter Jack Garratt is the winner.
It’s an auspicious beginning to the year for Garratt, who has already collected the 2016 BRIT Critics’ Choice award and will release his debut LP Phase in February. He’s developing a style that nicely integrates electro-R&B production with heartfelt lyricism, and the contemporary music climate is certainly favorable to that style.
The Sound of… Poll definitely isn’t an underground venture—this year’s runner up is Alessia Cara, who’s already landed a Top 10 single—but it’s a nice way to keep an eye on artists who are on the verge of a massive breakout. 2015 winner Years & Years followed up their poll victory with a couple of chart-topping songs and a number one debut album in Britain, and other past winners include such paragons as Adele, Haim, and Sam Smith.
You can check out the full results of the poll on the BBC’s website. In the meantime, enjoy a few songs from Garratt’s July 2014 Daytrotter session.