Poor Josephine Oniyama is half a decade too late for the 60s soul trend - Amy Winehouse is dead, Duffy has disappeared into obscurity and even Mark Ronson has ditched the brass and emigrated to the modern world. Yet, the smoothness of her voice is reminicent of Rumer, and her sound a close relative of Ren Harvieu - both of whom enjoyed top 10 success last year, so perhaps all is not lost.
Singing by her first name alone, Josephine hasn't so much been hotly-tipped as luke-warmedly acknowledged. There's no wave of hype, no big budget promotion - even the delightfully simple video for new single Portrait has less than 5,000 views. The track may at first seem unremarkable, but it is in fact deceptively catchy and the call-backs in the verses add a sense of cosiness to proceedings.
These days it's hard to get noticed without being endorsed by the BBC Sound of... competition, or having a BRITs Critics' Choice Award slung at you - but that's not to say she isn't worthy of a second listen. The confident swagger of What A Day, sounding instantly familiar, recalls early Amy Macdonald, and in a world full of wailers such as Emeli Sandé, Josephine's breezy tunes are a breath of fresh oxygen.
Both tracks are taken from her upcoming debut album, also titled Portrait (naturally), which without any fanfare could easily go unnoticed like the unfortunate Candie Payne when she threw out an album during the heady days of 19602007. Still, Josephine is currently on tour with Paloma Faith, so fingers crossed that Radio 2 will snap her up at some point.
