1. Polyenso

Polyenso isn’t your ordinary three-piece urban indie progressive band, though that may be how its members tend to describe the music they make. Oddly enough, less than four years ago they were making metal music and touring the states under the name Oceana.

Though as time passed, tastes changed, and these three members decided to ditch the blast beats and breakdowns for something much more intricate. Polyenso’s first and only full-length album, “One Big Particular Loop,” contains several live organic sounds, such as children laughing and beating a piñata, as well as homemade instruments, such as spatulas and wooden bowls.

Denny Agosto, who plays drums for the band, told the Huffington Post that “The common goal is to find our version of a universal sound. I feel like it’s important to take a lot of those modern influences or old influences and put it in a cadence that is simple to understand, and, at the same time, be new and recycled.”

Polyenso is now working on their sophomore album—their newest single, “Moona Festival,” was just released on the fifth of this month.

Here’s a link to their newest single.

Here’s a link to one of their older metal songs. It’s interesting to see such a drastic genre change from them, especially considering the band has not changed its members at all.

2. Copeland

Yes, you read that right—Copeland is back. After six years, Copeland finally reunited and released their fifth studio album, “Ixora,” in November of last year. The band is staying busy to say the least. They’re working on shipping “Ixora” pre-orders, which started on Jan. 13. They’re getting ready to headline the “For The Love” music festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which will make this their first festival in over five years. Though most importantly, they are continuing to write new music. “Ixora” is by far the most mature record Copeland has created, and their upcoming work will undoubtedly be something of merit. Copeland will be going on tour in February with Motion City Soundtrack.

3. James Bay

James Bay is a British singer-songwriter who is currently ranked number eleven on Spotify’s list of predicted music stars of 2015. Bay has three EPs, The Dark of the Morning (2013), Let It Go (2014) and Hold Back the River (2014), and one full length that is set to be released on March 23, under the title “Chaos and the Calm.” Bay recently went on tour with Hozier, an Irish musician who just won MTV Europe’s Album of the Year award. Bay is planning on touring for the majority of 2015, so far only one U.S. date is listed on March 16 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City.

Follow Amar on Twitter @amarasgupta