FASHION Magazine

I started 2011 by travelling to Copenhagen for a week to shoot another episode of Sharlene Vs. While I was looking for new acts to meet up with, I came across this group of 18 and 19 year-olds called Iceage. Their debut album, New Brigade, comes out June 21st and is a blistering 26 minutes of frenetic raw punk that will knock you out so fast in the best way possible. Iceage’s bio describes them as a mixture of “punk, post-punk, Goth and hardcore as if they invented it.” Check out their lo-fi video for “New Brigade” and see for yourself.

I truly cannot get enough of Toronto’s Austra. Their debut album “Feel It Break” is set to come out May 16th and I guarantee you will become obsessed with Katie Stelmanis‘ seductive hush vocals. When she was 10 years old, Stelmanis joined the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus and sang regularly for the prestigious Canadian Opera Company. Trust, this girl can sing. Check out Austra’s NSFW video for their hypnotic track, Beat and the Pulse.

Attention music lovers: we’ve got a new gal on the scene (and by scene, we really mean website). Introducing our new contributor, the amazingly cool Sharlene Chiu of MTV. Known for her knack of spotting break out artists (she conducted the first on-air interviews with MGMT and Santigold to name a few) and lately for making Adele cry (in the good way!), the inimitable host will be treating us to some of the new hot bands on her radar every Friday! First up:

New Zealanders The Naked and Famous landed on the coveted BBC Sound of 2011 which started a whirlwind of a year for this five-piece who are often compared to the likes of MGMT and Passion Pit. Their infectiously catchy single “Young Blood” became the first debut single by a Kiwi band to reach #1 in their home country in 16 years! You can’t watch The Naked and Famous live and not leave away with a smile.