WATCH: Rukhsana Merrise 'Money' for Mahogany

Last night I went to the Oxford leg of the Communion New Faces tour, where the line-up comprised of Matt Woods, Rukhsana Merrise, Adam French and The Beach. I hadn't listened much to any of the artists, but have huge confidence in the line-ups championed by Communion, and although for some reason, the crowd was pretty tiny, all four artists played great sets and are surely destined for great things. On the tour around a year ago, I saw Frances, who yesterday played on Radio 1's Live Lounge and is doing very well for herself! 

Mahogany released this video yesterday of Rukhsana Merrise performing a session of her track Money, certainly worth a watch! Funnily, the session bassist who currently plays with The Hoosiers was on bass in her band last night, and once I'd got over that unexpected surprise, I really enjoyed the set! 

A quick mention has to go to Matt Woods who opened the night, and who I was pretty mesmerised by. His performance was really beautiful and emotional, his range is pretty insane, and (especially as I couldn't spot him to go and grab a CD) I hope I get chance to see him live again pretty soon! Here's his most recent track, Ain't No Use.


The New Faces tour finishes up in Brighton tonight, and Bristol tomorrow night, tickets and more info here.

TOUR NEWS: Communion New Faces (April 2016)

Announced today, The Beach, Adam French, Rukhsana Merrise and Matt Woods play venues in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, London, Oxford, Brighton and Bristol in April for the latest Communion New Faces tour. 

Source: https://www.facebook.com/CommunionMusic

It feels like barely any time has passed since the last tour - but it was actually announced at the beginning of September, with Flyte, Seafret, Dan Owen and Jack Watts touring in November. Other previous line-ups have featured acts such as Frances, Pixel Fix, Amber Run and Eliza & The Bear, just a small indication of the caliber of the acts. I haven't listened to any of the four new artists before, but aside from listening to a track or two from each to embed something of theirs below, I will probably leave it until I see the show in Oxford - it's sometimes nice, especially for this kind of gig, to go along without any preconceptions, hearing the music for the first time live, letting the artists sell their music to you.

I say it a lot but I have an awful lot of trust in Communion, and often discover fantastic new artists through them. Therefore, evenings such as these, particularly with tickets a mere £8 (£2 per band!) for all the shows apart from London, are a superb showcase of four artists who are likely to have a brilliant 2016, and you'll be glad to have seen in venues of this size! Here are tracks from each of the artists...

Tickets for the shows are available now through the Communion website, through which you'll receive an EP with tracks from the artists with every purchase.