The Cool Kids
Tove Lo: “Habits (Stay High)”
2 Weeks on Mainstream Top 40;
6 Weeks on Hot Rock Songs
Kiesza: Sound of a Woman
1 Week on Dance/Electronic Albums
Nick Jonas: “Chains”
Trending 140
A little more than a year ago, Tove Lo, 27; Kiesza, 25; and Nick Jonas, 22, weren’t even signed. But in 2014 they all emerged as very different kinds of sensations, from alt-rock to dance to pop-R&B. In doing so, they helped define a new chapter for Island Records, which split from Def Jam in April to become a stand-alone label for the first time in 13 years.
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David Massey, president, Island: The rebuilding of Island has been about the emergence of our brand-new artists and the recognition they’ve achieved.
Eric Wong, executive VP/GM, Island: And those three artists couldn’t be more different from each other. With Nick, and all the history of the Jonas Brothers, we had to reimage and let the music lead.
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Nick Jonas: “Chains” was a bridge between what people had heard from me in the past and what was coming. This leans more toward alternative R&B, neo-soul. My social presence was a main driver, at least in the beginning stages, of my new music being released.
Wong: With Kiesza, we had our friends in the U.K. start the record.
Kiesza:I got to London on Jan. 21. [BBC ?Radio 1 DJ] Annie Mack played “Hideaway” on the 24th. It blew up on SoundCloud. We had to catch up to the song.
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Massey: For Tove Lo, the idea was to break her at alternative, because “Habits” has such a cool lyric. [E.g., “I gotta stay high all the time/To keep you off my mind”]
Tove Lo: When we released “Habits” in the U.S., it was a slow but steady climb, with people discovering it on their own, hearing it on the radio. But as soon as it started catching, it went quick.
Massey: The reaction was organic. Programmers see the Shazaming and the sales. Radio embraced it, and the more they did, the more great feedback they got.
2014’s No. 1’s: J Balvin & Farruko | Idina Menzel & the ‘Frozen’ Soundtrack | Tove Lo, Kiesza, & Nick Jonas | Taylor Swift | Barbra Streisand | Weird Al Yankovic | Ed Sheeran & Charli XCX | Nicki Minaj | ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Soundtrack | Enrique Iglesias | Kacey Musgraves | Santana | Sam Smith | Iggy Azalea | Jason Derulo | Meghan Trainor, Nico & Vinz
This article first appeared in the Dec. 20 issue of Billboard.