New West

Four individuals. One vision. Endless possibilities. Meet New West. The Toronto-based “collective” comprises four individual artists, namely Kala Wita, Vella, Ben Key, and Noel West. For as different as they respectively may be in terms of where they’re from, how they create, and why they’re here, they fit together as seamlessly as long-lost puzzle pieces. They rotate between instruments and pass around the mic, morphing in real-time across each and every song with an unabashedly warm nostalgic undercurrent. Their very first release “Those Eyes” hinted at the potential of their chemistry. Its lush lo-fi acoustic guitar, dreamy piano, lullaby melody, and quotable play-by-play of a relationship in full bloom instantly reacted with listeners worldwide. It initially popped off on TikTok (the guys aren’t quite sure where but it’s all good), and the success slowly but surely translated to streaming platforms. Between the Original and “Sped Up” version, it clocked nearly 270 million Spotify streams. Tracing an invisible line all the way from the British Invasion to 21st century alternative R&B, they defy genre as they simultaneously define a singular style on their 2023 forthcoming full-length debut for Giant Music/Republic Records and much more to come.