Rae Morris, Brixton Electric

It's an already crowded scene out there for up-and-coming British female voices, but since releasing her first single two years ago, Blackpool's Rae Morris is showing signs that she will be quite at home in talented company. With a voice lying somewhere between Gabrielle Aplin and London Grammar's Hannah Reid, Morris is already demonstrating a knack for soulful, angst-ridden pop hooks over which soars her voice, raw but packed with promise.
Still only 22, Morris's break came four years ago when she signed to Atlantic (home to Janelle Monae, Lykke Li and Fun. amongst many others), who put out her debut EP the following year. Three more have followed, and her debut album Unguarded is slated for release in 2015. In the past year she has leant her powerful voice to a track on the latest release from Bombay Bicycle Club, with whom she made her Glastonbury debut this summer, and to Clean Bandit's 'Extraordinary', which also gave Rae her first appearance on Later... with Jools Holland.
In fact, Morris credits Jools Holland with inspiring her to begin writing music after she saw Karima Francis, also from Blackpool, performing on the show, opening her eyes to the opportunities that might have otherwise passed by a young and talented performer from a bleak and rain-lashed Lancashire tourist trap (Rae charitably describes her hometown as 'not a cultural epicentre').
Lucky us then, for that break, on the back of which a fledgling career full of promise has been launched. Get down to the Electric in February to hear Rae's brand of haunting pop-noir first-hand – you won't be disappointed.