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Deep house project Watermät was the brainchild of French DJ and producer Laurent Arriau. Born in the early '80s and brought up in Paris, he developed an affinity with music at an early age, learning to play guitar and piano and listening to everything from Michael Jackson to Guns N' Roses. After being switched on to the house music scene by Daft Punk, he learned how to DJ and produce electronic music. He studied science for two years before getting into production work for a number of big French pop acts. Initially preferring anonymity, he remained a backroom figure until, deciding to create his own music, he quit Paris in 2012 and moved to the south of France.

Uploading his early efforts to Soundcloud, where they became popular, he picked up a substantial following, but only became successful after his track "Bullit" was picked up by Spinnin' Records, who released it as a single. The infectious tune, written and recorded in just a couple of days, paired a summery flute melody with ominous, epic bass stabs. Released in June 2014, it was played out by many of the world's top DJs, including Pete Tong and Tiësto, and swiftly became an anthem of the summer. The single charted in several European countries; its best performance was in Belgium's Flemish Ultratop chart, where it peaked at number six. ~ John D. Buchanan

British pop-soul chanteuse Kelli-Leigh made her name as a backup singer for the likes of Adele before the runaway success of two dance tracks on which she had appeared paved the way for a solo career. Born Kelli-Leigh Henry-Davila in 1985 and brought up in Selhurst, South London, she dreamed of being a singer, taking her first and only "normal" job just so she could save up to buy a keyboard on which to write. Graduating in the same BRIT School class as Leona Lewis and Katie Melua, the reputation she built up as a talented and dependable backing vocalist landed her a gig with Adele on the singer's tour to promote her debut album. During the tour, Adele's second album 21 was released and became a massive smash hit, leading to Kelli-Leigh performing with her at the Grammys and the Oscars. Following the end of the tour in 2012, she recorded and released her debut EP, I Am Here, but it failed to chart. She moved to Poland, where she lived and worked for a year-and-a-half, and was on the verge of signing to Universal there when she was involved in a serious car wreck which left her unable to walk for months.

Despite being in a wheelchair, she showed up when she got the call to do a session vocal for house producer Duke Dumont. The resultant 2014 single "I Got U," powered by her Whitney-esque turn, went to number one in the U.K. and, just months later, another single on which she had provided uncredited vocals -- Secondcity's "I Wanna Feel" -- did the same. This sudden success gave her the boost she needed and she decided to start work again on a solo career. Over the course of the next few years, while working on her debut album, she co-wrote and featured on so many popular singles that one BBC Radio 1 DJ dubbed her "the voice of U.K. dance music." The biggest of these was James Hype's 2017 hit "More Than Friends," which went to number eight on the U.K. singles chart. ~ John D. Buchanan