RHODES

Swirling synthesisers, tenderly picked guitars, stark piano and ghostly harmonies form the canvas on which @rhodesmusic paints with broad, abstract strokes. With his new album (un-finished), the Hertfordshire-born, London-based artist puts himself centre stage. It's amazing to hear such emotional clarity, considering the turbulent last few years RHODES has experienced. He was originally signed to a major label, through which he released his critically acclaimed debut Wishes in 2015.

He walked away from that contract after feeling he was being pushed in a direction that was completely wrong artistically. He was hailed at the time as a musician just beginning to discover his talent - and compared to peers like Hozier and Lana Del Rey - while his duet with Birdy on Let It All Go has racked up almost a quarter of a billion streams. His creative liberation came with the independently released record Friends Like These. He cites musicians such as Jeff Buckley as sources of inspiration.