Morning Parade

With talk of sold-out stadium tours and worldwide domination before they'd even released a record, Essex five-piece Morning Parade, the latest addition to the increasing plethora of indie-friendly dance acts, could never be accused of lacking ambition. Formed in Harlow in 2008, the band consists of lead vocalist Steve Sparrow, guitarist Chad Thomas, bassist Phil Titus, keyboardist Ben Giddings, and drummer Andy Hayes. Combining trance-style synths with anthemic rock guitars in the same vein as Friendly Fires, Delphic, and Fenech-Soler, their energetic sound and low-key secret live gigs soon attracted the attention of various record labels, and eventually resulted in a major-label deal with Parlophone. Following support slots on U.K. tours by Florence and the Machine, Ash, and Tinchy Stryder, they began work on material with Blur producer Jason Cox at Damon Albarn's 13 Studios. Their first single, "Under the Stars," was released in 2010, with their debut album expected to follow in early 2011. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi