5 Female Artists To Watch Out For

4. Yuna

Pop music doesn't have many asian success stories on the UK and US charts but Yuna is attempting to conquer the field with her first English full length album. Born in Malaysia, Yuna plays guitar and has been writing songs since she was 14, performing acoustically over there since 2006. She is notorious for her headscarf attire and bright make-up but it is less about visuals and more about scene-setting, mood-evoking music. Many rock purists will immediately switch off the video for her cover of Nirvana's Come As You Are below but Yuna wraps it up in a slinky foreboding that still keeps some of the guitar lines from the original merely slowed down and overlayed with her expressive voice - this song was how I got into her music because I liked certain aspects of the original but wanted something less aggressive.

First American release Decorate EP features Ed Sheeran-esque confessional Deeper Conversation (award winning track back in Malaysia), the brooding intent of Fears and Frustations and 90's easy listening of Coffee. She was then noticed by Pharrel Williams of N.E.R.D. who produced a few songs for her debut self-titled US album including lead single Live Your Life, a cosmopolitan chill-out steered by Pharrell's beats and synths and Yuna's hopeful, breathy lyrics. A huge hit in her home country, Yuna will be hoping to repeat that feat here with a sound that is close to the Adele-ballad mould but with world influences uncommon in western music.