Artists to look out for in 2014: SOHN

While it would be tempting to flex whatever constitutes as music knowledge muscle and pull out the crystal ball of “next big things,” predicting SOHN will be one to watch in 2014 is like concluding the day of a tsunami isn't the best moment for a beach trip. The Vienna-based English producer only has an EP and a couple of singles to his name, yet has somehow managed to get himself 800,000 soundcloud followers. Eight, hundred, thousand. For comparison, James Blake has 23,000. It's just silly.

I mention James Blake for a reason, since SOHN is another electronic producer to shirk guest vocalists and give it a go himself. Initial attempts were predominantly RnB based, with dark, brooding tracks pairing surprisingly well with his falsetto voice. It's tempting to describe him as a less sex-obsessed The Weeknd with better production and not as much shock value, but SOHN has shown himself to be a little too creative to be so easily pigeon-holed. Recent single “Lessons” shows why: seeing the producer play around in James Blake's neck of the woods with vocal effects and large, dramatic bursts of bass. Somehow it sounds even cooler when he does it.

For an artist who's just experienced such a huge explosion of popularity, information on him is surprisingly rare. It's unclear whether he intents to put out a full album this year or continue producing for other artists (previous collaborators include Lana Del Ray and BANKS), but a recent lull in releases suggests something big.