Discovery: HAWK - Seasick Summer

British-Irish quartet HAWK have styled their sound on a very vivid variation of folk. It's Joanna Newsom without being too traditional, and Amiina if they focused less on specifically designed instruments - indie pop for a twee loving sadist. Vocalist Julie Hawk takes lead of the project, and it's clear why she's at the front by name, and by sound. Her voice is reminiscent of early Bjork, innocent, yet eternal as if for a short while, Julie and her co-men are in the room playing to you.

"Seasick Summer" is taken from HAWK's newest EP, Sum of All Things. It stands out on this EP because of its inherited sophistication dealt by Julie's vocals, and the soft rock accompaniment of guitarist Matthew Harris. They leave plenty of room for imagination, as the slow building track caresses freely for almost four minutes. Listeners will pick up on Julie's vocal similarities, and they're right to do so. But it's Julie's vocals matched with the cool instrumentation which makes HAWK a folk force to be reckoned with in the coming year. HAWK shouldn’t find it difficult to be playing at folk festivals and the mainstream festivals this summer, and if they struggle, audiences are definitely missing out.

~Eddie Gibson