We profi le five of the hot test
artists who are climbing the
charts, breaking the Internet
or just dominating our
officestereos...SOUNDS LIKE: Heartfelt, organic, singer-
songwriter pop with hooks for days
FOR FANS OF: Coldplay, Ed Sheeran,
James Blunt
WHY YOU SHOULD PAY
ATTENTION: Sydney singer-songwriter
Dean Lewis’s life changed the day his
father showed him a 2005 DVD of
Oasis playing in Manchester. From that
point on, the then-17-year-old became
obsessed with all things Gallagher, study-
ing Noel’s songwriting and devouring
documentaries and live clips. Despite
being a promising gamer – he represent-
ed Australia in 2005 at the World Cyber
Games – music became his focus, and
by 24 he’d earned a publishing deal and
was writing songs for X-Factor and Voice
contestants. It proved unsatisfying. “So I
started stockpiling songs for myself,” says
the 28-year-old. One of those songs was
debut single “Waves”, which has been
certifi ed Platinum, streamed more than
13 million times globally, and featured in
hit Netfl ix show Riverdale. He made his
live debut late last year supporting Lisa
Mitchell on her national tour, and spent
more than a month overseas earlier this
year playing in Germany, England, Bel-
gium and the Netherlands; in Holland he
performed on live TV in front of 1.5 mil-
lion people. Last month, Lewis released
his debut EP, Same Kind of Diff erent.
HE SAYS: “I’m not trying to be cool. I’m
not trying to write a certain kind of song
for a certain station or certain kind of
people. I just want to do what I want to
do. Good songwriting, big songs, the best
songs I can write, try and beat the last
one. That’s my obsession.”
HEAR FOR YOURSELF: The stirring
“Waves” may have been his break-
through, but “Let Go” is surely a hit in
waiting. ROD YATESDean Lewis
34 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com
The Future
Is Now
July, 2017