J-14 is scouting out the hottest music around...and this week's pick is Tom Odell.
Here are four things you need to know about Tom Odell whose debut album Long Way Down is out in the UK April 15!
1. British singer-songwriter Tom Odell, 22, began studying classical piano at age seven but stopped once he started middle school. He began writing his own songs at age 13 but never thought he had a good voice. "Singing didn't really come naturally to me. I had to really work at it," Tom says. He started singing at open-mic events in Brighton where he studied at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music.
2. On writing lyrics, Tom says the thing that inspires him the most is love and more particularly? "My inability to sustain a relationship with someone for longer than six months," he says.
3. Tom has won the 2013 BRITs Critics Choice awards (the UK equivalent of an Grammy) and performed live during the 2013 Burberry fashion show.
4. His debut album, Long Way Down doesn't come out until April but he hopes that the fans will connect with his music on a personal level. "If someone is able to relate to my music or my lyrics, that's a feeling that is new to me and it's a really nice feeling. Music is shared. It's a shared feeling, that's what music is all about," he says. "When you listen to a song with someone else, it becomes more than just a song. It defines relationships."
Check out Tom Odell's music video for "Hold Me" and let us know what you think!