Friday 2 December 2011

Ones to Watch 2012 - #12 Ren Harvieu

We’ve already mentioned that a number of choices in the Breaking More Waves Ones To Watch 2012 list have more than a vague whiff of nostalgia about them. From the 50’s vintage Bo Didley referencing Willy Moon to the old school rock and blues of Alabama Shakes to the smouldering 60’s gangster Nancy Sinatra of Lana Del Rey or the sepia tinged Otis loving acoustic soul of Michael Kiwanuka. Now here’s another one.

When we first posted about Ren Harvieu back in September we mentioned the likes of Dusty Springfield and Carole King as musical similarities. To that list we could also easily add Shirley Bassey (well, actually we did already, here) and Cilla Black because we could very much imagine Ren standing in a venue like the London Palladium and belting songs like Forever In Blue and the Say A Little Prayer referencing debut single Through The Night out and getting a standing ovation. It’s opulent stuff.

For the moment Ren Harvieu has to be content with her recent support slots with James Morrison and two headline shows at the less glamorous Monto Water Rats in London and the Ruby Lounge in Manchester. There's also a simple performance video of her covering The Beatles Something which she put out a couple of weeks ago (see below). At this point in time however, Ren is probably just glad to be getting out playing shows after badly injuring her back in a freak accident earlier this year that almost stopped her music career in the tracks before it even got going.

Through The Night by Ren Harvieu

Sister Morphine – Recorded for MOJO magazine covermount CD by Ren Harvieu

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