Styles stylin’ with quadruple wins but keeps to his humble self, dedicating his award to female artists.
Harry Styles steals the show with four wins at this years’ BRIT AWARDS; while new-indie kids-on-block Wet Leg swooped in with two to go with their GRAMMYs. Fontaines D.C deservingly earned credit as International Group and Best Alternative/Rock Act went to The 1975.
Amongst the awkward interviews, uncharacteristic mic stifling, presenter bluffs (announcing new artist Sam Capaldi) award sweeps, it was your pretty typical Brit Awards this year, where some of the biggest, most relevant music artists all end up in the 02 arena room. As I sat there and witnessed Wet Leg lift off from their chairs not once but twice, snubbing both Arctic Monkeys and 1975 to the award – both bands both had astronomical years – I begin to think.. how relevant can a band become? Do all music artists have their brazed two year in the sun and them never become relevant again? Amongst the talks of Wet Leg being “industry plants” by their fast-track portfolio of industry domination, the music itself – bitty feel-good indie – doesn’t exactly do anything to reinvent the wheel. Yet, they’re everywhere. that rock ‘n’ roll eh. It may be the confident bravado of female artistry in an indie cycle forever dominated by male hedonism, or the impromptu lyricism that make them a quirky colour. Or it may be the torrent of marketing deals they got over the Summer, with Coca-Cola, Glastonbury, the list goes on.
So, does the industry just need that one big band to keep the industry “fresh” and “coherent”? What’s to say that Wet Leg will not just simply drop off after the haunting of that second album? Above all else, do bands just have their 5 minutes in the sun and then drop off for all relevancy if they don’t eat raw meat on-stage and kiss teenage fans?
Is it all in the headline news and controversial sand-piping that makes a band stay in the forefront of music fans? Do we just need something new all the time to pique our interest in the world of music?
Take the best rap/grime act category, for example. Would Aitch have won – a particularly bland rapper – had he not desecrated an Ian Curtis mural for his debut album marketing?
Of course, mighty giants like Taylor Swift and Harry Styles are their own entities. Whatever they do, they will always have a fanbase to back them, for better or for worse.
Only time will tell if we get a Wet Leg replacement two to three years down the line. But as ever, it’s an unanswered enigma to our industry. What are your thoughts?
mvm. 
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