New York – BestNewBands.com has announced the winners of its 2013 Newbie Awards, to honor the year’s top new artists in a variety of categories, as determined by a poll of the site’s editorial staff and readers:

Best New Band: Chvrches

Best New Male Artist: Shakey Graves

Best New Female Artist: Lorde

Best New Album: Lucius - Wildewoman 

Glascow, Scotland-based trio Chvrches only met in 2011.  The group’s debut LP,The Bones Of What You Believe (on Glassnote in the US; Virgin elsewhere), was released in September.  The single, “The Mother We Share,” is generating buzz and climbing the charts.

Shakey Graves is the moniker of Texan Alejandro Rose-Garcia, whose finger-picking skills on both guitar and banjo rival are drawing raves.  Our former Featured Artist will have a new album in 2014, with a date still TBD.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been less than three months since Lorde’s Pure Heroine album was released via Universal Music.  The New Zealander, born Ella Yelich-O’Connor, has since dominated the pop charts with her hit single, “Royals,” which topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for a phenomenal nine weeks.  The 16-year-old recently earned three Grammy Award nominations.

If you haven’t yet heard of Brooklyn’s Lucius, it might be because the indie pop band only formed last year. Or perhaps because their debut LP, Wildewoman–our Best New Album of 2013–on  Mom + Pop Music, was released in mid-October, barely making our eligibility cutoff date.  Two female lead vocalists, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, front the quintet.

In making the announcement, BestNewBands.com’s Los Angeles-based Founder and Publisher, Tom Crosthwaite said: “The quality of new artists never ceases to amaze me. We’re delighted to recognize this year’s winners and wish them a long and successful career.“

Greg Brodsky, BestNewBands.com’s New York-based Chief Marketing Officer, and creator of the site’s Newbie Awards said: “I’m proud that BestNewBands.com has helped champion a broad range of emerging talent and this year’s winners are a reflection of that diversity.”

The nominees, based on artists’ recording and touring activity from November 1, 2012 – October 31, 2013, were announced on November 20 as determined by voting among the BestNewBands.com staff.