Oceaán: One to Watch for 2014

Jessie Ware helped lay the foundations in the summer of last year, with the sublime Devotion and its procession of caramel-glossed dance, pop and garage-tinged tracks, each punctuated by the sound’s now idiosyncratic vocal style: that moreish, lissome caw of hers.

Few could have quite predicted what was to follow when summer came around again. Coming off the back of a glut of sultry bangers, Disclosure romped to a UK debut number one with Settle; featuring a who’s who of modern British RnB and soul stars including Sam Smith, AlunaGeorge, and, of course, Miss Ware herself.

Whether you’re inclined to label it future-garage, “house-pop”, or just straight-up dance, Disclosure’s intoxicating blend of prickly-heat grooves, sticky-floor bass pops and seamlessly presented rhythms defined a movement. Capped later by Dornik, whose breakout smash “Something About You” floored all as the ink dried on his PMR deal; Swiss beatmaker Cyril Hahn (also PMR); and Lxury, a signing to the Lawrence brothers’s own Method Records imprint; it’s been a tumultuous year for this vibrant – although only loosely-affiliated – collective.

With the formula for mainstream success now firmly established, some will assert that the PMR-pioneered movement has already reached its apex. With swathes of emerging talents looking to emulate Disclosure’s achievements; what’s to separate the new, and even more precociously talented generation, from the piggy-backers?

Step forward Manchester-based production whiz Oceaán, whose moniker, he says, comes as a result of wanting to reclaim a sense of discovery and mystique, on behalf of himself and his fans. In short, he’s 2014′s biggest crossover star in the making, and he’s already banging out the most thrillingly genuine club tracks and sensitive RnB bubblers of all the newcomers, as well as smudging singles by fellow stars MØ, Woman’s Hour and Swim Deep with his woozy fingerprint.

“I don’t think there was any ulterior motive towards the Oceaán alias,” begins Oliver Cean, another nom de guerre, I suspect, when I manage to pin the elusive youngster down. “I view it more as a stream of consciousness toward what I believe is the music I want to be making,” he goes on. “I hope people can hear some sort of progression.” And you can. From softly-simmering debut “Haze”; to my personal favourite, the track that set the blogs and indie music press alight, the pheromone-infused slow jam “Neéd U”, it’s clear that Cean’s confidence is building.

I ask what the highs of 2013 have taught him, he muses, “I have actually learned a lot about myself in the last twelve months. I’ve realised the importance in a change in creative atmosphere.” That switch-up in artistic space comes in the form of a spartan new workspace, O. chips in, “almost mirroring the blank canvas I’m building upon.”

With his cards, certainly not blank, but held, true-to-form, close to his chest regarding plans for 2014 – not least “the surprise” he’s insistent will stay under wraps for the foreseeable future – Oliver leaves me with his most important New Year’s resolution: “to make sure those who choose to listen continue to enjoy Oceaán.”

Now that’s something we can all raise a glass, confidently, to.