GOTYE

When casting an eye over the librarian to alt-pop wunderkind biog of GOTYE it's hard not to think of an Australian Beck. Like Beck, GOTYE is a sample magpie, piecing together "Hearts A Mess" from a huge collection of records bequeathed him by a neighbour. The main loop in "Hearts A Mess" being originally lifted from Harry "King of Calypso" Belafonte's 1956 recording of "Banana Boat Song" (known by its signature lyric "Day-O") before then being replayed, adapted and recreated for the track. GOTYE was born in Bruges, Belgium to parents that met at a choir and were interested in Georgian chanting (just as Beck had a link back to the old continent through his Flux painter grandfather in Germany). Finally, like the young Beck Hansen, GOTYE worked a series of dead-end jobs while working on his opus in his bedroom before releasing and plugging it himself. Australia's Radio 1 equivalent Triple J picked up one of the 500 promos GOTYE had pressed and sent out himself and started playing it. The Australian press picked up on it to rave reviews, and he found himself winning the Aussie equivalent of the Mercury Music Award and also a BRIT Award, an ARIA, in 2007. From the initial pluck of the harp string, the gentle swell of violins, a lush beachcombing slide guitar, backed by that most sumptuous Day-O swinging rhythm "Hearts A Mess" opens a kaleidoscope of feelings, with GOTYE's blue-eyed soul voice having shades of Peter Gabriel. It's released on June 2nd on Lucky Number Music.