I'm delighted to announce the first of what I hope will be many live music sessions by The Independent: Music Box.

Its simple raison d'être is to give talented artists a platform in an increasingly competitive industry for up-and-comers - where they can share their music with both their current fans and potential new ones.

Music Box sessions are recorded in a little studio at our office; the focus is entirely on the artists and they have nothing to hide behind - no auto-tune and no fancy lighting; all you have is their raw talent. Lyrics, vocals, instrumentation.

Each week we’ll be sharing a session by a new act - from any genre just so long as the music is good. Rock, hip-hop, grime, indie, country, funk, folk, jazz… anything goes. Hopefully we'll be introducing you to some brand new music, along with involving some of your favourites.

We’re kicking Music Box off with The Amazons, a band The Independent has supported since we launched their single ‘In My Mind’ last year.

The Amazons are a fantastic bunch of guys who are crafting arena-sized rock anthems, and it turns out the acoustic versions of their songs are just as impressive as the full-blown studio ones.

Frontman Matt Thompson and guitarist Chris Alderton came into the studio to perform three tracks and blew us all away in one take. You can watch their session above - I hope you enjoy it.