Welcome to this week’s New Music Friday!

James Bay is an English singer/songwriter, whose music genre is typically considered folk. I walked into Barnes & Noble the week before Christmas and I saw his debut album Chaos and the Calm on the shelves as a CD and a Vinyl. If you’ve ever tuned in to KROQ 106.7 on the radio, you may be familiar with his songs, “Hold Back the River” and/or “Let It Go.” I love James Bay’s music and this is the first real “folk” artist that I have listened to. If you know me, you know I am more into the alternative genre of music, but James is really a good artist. A few of my favorite songs from his album are “If You Ever Want To Be In Love,” “Scars,” “Collide,” and “Incomplete.”

He recently announced he was going on tour here in the US and if you can snag yourself a ticket or two to go, I say you should do it! However, if you don’t get a chance to, feel free to check James out on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram for some cool stuff.

Along with Bay, George Ezra started off his career in England, too. I became a little more familiar with his music when I went to the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas Concert back in December. I didn’t know any of the words to any of the songs he sang, but there was on song that I felt like I knew the words to. Which song, you may ask? “Budapest.”

Another artist, or should I say, other artists, that I have been obsessed with lately are Pentatonix (also known as PTX). This group’s music genre is far from similar to the last two artists I talked about. Pentatonix are an a capella group (yes, like the girls from Pitch Perfect!) that started off on the TV show, The Sing-Off in 2011. The group started off by releasing PTX Volumes 1 & 2 where they covered famous pop hits like Ariana Grande’s “Problem,” Nicki Minaj’s “Starships,” and Lorde’s “Royals.” In 2014, the group also released PTX Volume 3 and a full-length Christmas album titled That’s Christmas To Me that featured their first original song.

In August 2015, the group finally released their debut album, Pentatonix that finally included an entire list of original songs. The deluxe version of the album has an additional 4 songs, 3 of which are covers and the other is an alternate version of “Can’t Sleep Love.” My favorite songs of their album include “Ref,” “Sing,” “Can’t Sleep Love,” and “Na Na Na.” The most interesting thing about this group is their bass line. Because the group depends solely on their mouths as instruments, they had to have a member in the group that could hit the lowest notes possible. Avi Kaplan is that group member. In their song “That’s Christmas to Me,” you get a little taste of what Avi’s voice sounds like. It’s incredible what he can do! PTX are currently not on tour, but rumors are that they are working on a new album. Some of my favorite songs If you want to stay up to date with the group, check them out on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, too.

Following his departure from British boy band One Direction, Zayn Malik (who now just goes by Zayn) announced that he would begin working on a solo project. Today, he released the video for his new single, “Pillow Talk.” The video has a lot of crazy visual effects and a famous model, also known as, Gigi Hadid.

Malik’s new song and video have gotten a variety of feedback. Some like the song but not the video while others like the video and not the song. And, of course, you’ve got die-hard fans that love everything about the song and the video.

Alessia Cara is a name you have probably heard on the radio when they introduce the song “Here.” Well, Cara has actually been around since the beginning of 2015, but finally got her big break at the end of the year. She released “Here” in April 2015 way before she even released a debut EP. In August 2015, she released said debut EP entitled Four Pink Walls and was a major success, leading her to release a full-length album in November 2015.

“I’m Yours” is featured on Cara’s debut album Know-It-All. I love the lyrics of this song. The song, in general, is such a mellow, good song that helps me relax or get through doing homework faster. Alessia is currently on tour, but the only show in California that she is hosting is in San Francisco. I know, that really sucks! But, you can keep up with her tour as she posts on Twitter and Instagram. You can also listen to more of her songs on YouTube and Spotify.

Another artist that I discovered at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas concert was Andrew McMahon. From what I heard at the show and what I have researched, Andrew used to be in the band Something Corporate in 2000 and  the band Jack’s Mannequin in 2003, but soon went on to pursue a solo career.

In October of 2014, Andrew released his debut LP Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. “Cecilia and the Satellites” is by far my favorite song by McMahon and I think you’ll like it, too. (This song sounds amazing live!) Along with this song, a few of my favorites off this record are “Canyon Moon,” “Halls,” and “Maps for a Getaway.” He’s currently not on tour, but he’ll be touring with Panic! at the Disco and Weezer this upcoming summer. You should also definitely check him out on social media: Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.

Last, but not least, DNCE has been introduced to the world. We all remember the Jonas Brothers, there’s no question about that. Well, this is nothing like them, but Joe Jonas is the lead singer.

After the Jo Bros broke up, a lot of us were beyond devastated with the news. (I am not ashamed to say that I cried for a few days.) But there is no need to fear that the Jonas’ are done with music. We all know that Nick Jonas released a new album and Kevin Jonas is just busy being a dad. Well now, we can all start to fangirl (or fanboy) over Joe Jonas’ new band.

We’ve all heard the band’s first single “Cake By the Ocean” on the radio. Well, get ready to fall in love with their debut EP SWAAY. All the songs off this EP are amazing. There are only 4 songs but they’re all so good. I am desperately waiting for an actual album. Keep yourself up-to-date by following the band on Twitter and Instagram, and listening to all their songs on YouTube or Spotify.