Kate Boy

"Not a whole lot is yet known about the darkly tinted electronipop act Kate Boy, except that three of them hail from Sweden, and one from Australia. Earlier this month, the group went from obscurity to growing concern when their track "Northern Lights" was suddenly spackled across the blogosphere with much ado. But the excitement wasn't for naught. The song and, by extension, its video (watch that below) are as subtly hypnotic as they are propulsively powerful.

Now we've got the promise of a full Northern Lights EP due January 22 via IAMSOUND (Salem, Lord Huron, Charli XCX), and a second song to hear, "In Your Eyes." While perhaps not quite as exciting as the Peter Gabriel cover we expected it to be, its subdued yet engrossing nature makes a case for Kate Boy being more than a one-trick pony. Mentions of the Knife have been pretty much unavoidable so far, though Jessie Ware and Little Dragon also come to mind." --SPIN

"New York newcomers ASTR’s “Operate” sounds a bit like Purity Ring meets Rihanna, with swamp-synth production and snide, slightly Caribbean pronunciation throughout. Their debut video features appearances by the duo’s as-yet unnamed two members and a pretty disparate collection of archival footage. Looking forward to hearing more, though their Soundcloud‘s rate of four tracks a year suggests we might need to let this one simmer for a spell." --Fader