As 2011 draws ever closer to calendar’s end, it’s clear this year brought some really great music my way. Established acts delivered as expected, but the tracks I was happiest to hear again and again came from some fantastic new artists.

Count Manchester’s Hologram Heart Parade among the newcomers that dazzled my eardrums, courtesy their debut single, “Dirty Heart.” Released in June, the slinky pop groove revealed the two-woman, three-man band’s affection for Prince-ly funk and falsetto. (Check out the music video for “Dirty Heart,” a collaboration with visual artist Elisa Artesero.)

After posting a second track, “Without Me,” for review in August, Hologram Heart Parade finishes the year and hints at bigger things to come in 2012 with new song, “Colour Of You.” Once more, Prince’s influences on Hologram Heart Parade are on display, as “Colour Of You” recalls Purple Rain ballad “The Beautiful Ones,” but with shades of Parade, an album that I absolutely adore.

I also can’t help but hear some Kate Bush in frontwoman Pauline Johnston’s vocal approach this time through too, not that “Colour Of You” should be considered some copycat affair. Whomever their musical heroes are and whatever inspiration they might pull from them, there’s a freshness to Hologram Heart Parade’s music. Whether they’re having fun or digging deep, the band puts some real feeling behind their songs, as Johnston explains regarding “Colour Of You”:

“‘Colour of You’ is a song that attempts to dissect hopeless confusion, a song of hopeful desperation, a song about depression and of anger and love. A song can never hope to answer the mind-bending questions that so many people ask themselves, but it can aim to help to relieve the loneliness whilst we ponder them. It is a sparse, colourful and unfeigned song.”

Let’s hear it for Hologram Heart Parade’s approach to pop, and in the case of “Colour Of You,” not shying away from turning down the tempo and serving up some heartfelt emotion. It doesn’t have to be of the ‘devastated Adele’ variety all the time, folks (though I love me some of that too).

Look for “Colour Of You” on Hologram Heart Parade’s 6-track EP, out this spring in conjunction with a series of UK shows.