My current musical obsession is a four-piece British band that goes by the name of Rixton. The group is made up of Jake Roche, Lewi Morgan, Charley Bagnall and Danny Wilkin. Rixton is currently the opening act for Ariana Grande on her
Honeymoon World Tour. They have been described as a mix between Maroon 5 and One Republic, and their music is a beautiful mix between pop/rock and R&B.
Their first album, Let The Road, was recently released and each track has a vibe of its own. Some of my favorite songs from the album include 'Let The Road', 'Hotel Ceiling', and 'I Like Girls'. Each of these songs has their own unique flavor which I think is amazing because it shows great diversity from the band. The title track was a song that the band penned years ago when they were just starting out–– when they weren't really sure about the direction they were going. I think this is a great song to listen to when you need encouragement. Not only is the message wonderful, but the vocals are out of this world.
'Hotel Ceiling' is a song written by a friend of the band. This song is more serious and a little bit darker, but this unique quality just adds to the group's artistic range. It isn't quite the cheeky song like 'Make-out' and 'We All Want the Same Thing', but it's different and great in its own way. Then you have 'I Like Girls', which has a more reggae feel to it and is the easy-listening sort of song that you play at the party or the gym. Rixton got to work with legend Benny Blanco, who has worked with amazing artist like Maroon 5, Ed Sheeran, Rihanna, and Katy Perry.
I have been following this band for a little over two years. Last year was the first time that they came to the Central Florida area and they visited a couple of radio stations while in town. At the time, there were about 10 people in the room and the boys played a couple songs acoustically and answered questions. The amazing thing is that when I saw them in Orlando with Ariana Grande, they played to a packed house. They have a wonderful stage presence and really know how to win over an audience. During their first song there were just a few people standing, but by the end of their set the whole stadium was up on their feet.
This band is managed by the one and only Scooter Braun. This star-maker is responsible for other artists like Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen, Psy, Martin Garrix, and the Wanted. I have no doubt that they are only going to get bigger and better as time goes on.
When asked, the boys seem genuinely shocked at the amount of success they have had in such a short amount of time. They note that at one point they were happy when 30 people to showed up at a pub to see them. Now, they are playing arenas with 16,000+ members. Each of them has expressed what this album personally means to them but the consensus seems to be that they are happy to be able to put out songs that mean so much to them on an album for everyone to hear.
Rixton will be done touring with Ariana Grande in May. They will then join Ed Sheeran on his tour in June.
