It should come as no surprise that many of our bestselling titles are piano-led ballads. And why not? After all, who doesn’t love to play evergreen hits like Adele’s
'Someone Like You' and John Legend’s
'All Of Me'?
However, we are not only interested in the smash hits here at Sheet Music Direct HQ. We love to keep an ear out for similar styles of songs that may have slipped under the radar. Whilst the likes of Pink’s
'What About Us' and Sam Smith’s
'Too Good At Goodbyes' are the piano-led ballads of the moment, here are ten lesser-known gems from the last few years which we think are worth checking out.
Which unknown or obscure pieces have you discovered recently? Let us know over on
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Twitter to share it with the SMD community!
A huge name in pop music right now,
Sam Smith has one of the most instantly-recognisable voices around and possesses an incredible vocal range. The Englishman is no stranger to a piano-led love song, but somehow he's turned Whitney Houston's
'How Will I Know' into a tearjerking ballad and it works. It really works.
There are very few pop songwriters as prolific as
Sia. The Australian has an incredible back-catalogue of hits—whether they are under her own name; as a featured artist; or as a writer for other artists. Her song 'Helium' surfaced on the
Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack earlier this year and it might just be her most beautiful song to-date.
Jessie J hit the number 1 spot with her smash hit
'Price Tag' back in 2011 and she’s racked up a whole load of hits since then, but it’s the emotive album track ‘Get Away’ from her 2014 record
Sweet Talker which really made our ears prick up and our fingers tingle.
Birdy is a household name when it comes to the piano ballad.
'Skinny Love' and
'People Help The People' were both beautiful stripped-back cover versions of songs by other artists. Our favourite hidden gem, however, is 2015’s ‘Let It All Go’ in which Birdy teams up with fellow Brit, Rhodes. How the song didn’t crack the top-40 in the UK charts is a mystery to us.
5. 'Giants' by Ella Henderson
Ella Henderson was widely favoured to win the ninth series of the X Factor back in 2012, but surprisingly finished only sixth, behind the likes of eventual winner
James Arthur and boyband
Union J. Henderson had the last laugh when her debut single ‘Ghosts’ hit the number 1 spot in the UK charts in 2014, but it’s the beautiful ‘Giants’ which is the real treat for pianists out there.
Dutch singer
Mr. Probz is best-known for his 2014 hit
'Waves', remixed to great effect by
Robin Schulz which propelled him to the top of the UK charts. Follow-up single 'Nothing Really Matters' was a big hit in his home country, but barely registered elsewhere around the globe which is a total travesty.
Shortly after the split of boy band
The Wanted,
Nathan Sykes was the sole band member to embark on a solo career. Whilst his solo career may not have set the world alight as yet, it did result in this lovely little collaboration with US star
Ariana Grande. If you like John Legend's 'All Of Me', you're sure to love this song.
London-based trio
Years & Years bagged a whole host of awards following the release of their debut album
Communion back in 2015. Whilst the songs
'King' and
'Shine' benefited from a huge amount of air-time on radio stations around the globe, 'Eyes Shut' is the song pianists should have in their repertoire.
9. 'Catapult' by Jack Savoretti
Jack Savoretti has been in the music scene for over 10 years now and has no less than five studio albums to his name. Whilst 'Catapult' is Savoretti's highest charting single to-date, it managed to only reach number 89 in the UK charts which doesn't do justice to this beautiful piano-led love song.
Having started out in the music industry performing under her birth name, Maggie Eckford, the US singer adopted the stage name
Ruelle in 2015 to mark a change in direction musically. An appearance on the
Vampire Diaries soundtrack put the song 'I Get To Love You' into the public eye, and we'd wager that it has soundtracked a few first dances over the last 12 months.
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