The Ready Set - I Will Be Nothing Without Your Love (2016)

Starting in 2007, Indiana teenager Jordan Witzigreuter began retreating to his parents' basement to record songs that straddled the border between melodic emo-pop and bubbly electronica. Although he adopted a name for the project -- the Ready Set -- Witzigreuter took a solo approach to the songs, which he recorded and performed entirely by himself. Within two years, he'd landed a contract with Decaydance Records, who paired him up with a number of veteran emo producers (including Zack Odom, Kenneth Mount, and Matt Squire) to record a debut album. The result was I'm Alive, I'm Dreaming, which appeared in 2010. For the 2011 EP Feel Good Now, Witzigreuter teamed up with producer Ian Kirkpatrick and the occasional songwriting partner, including Kara DioGuardi. After leaving Decaydance and the Warner Bros. corporation with his next album already in progress, Witzigreuter found a new home at Razor & Tie. Working again with Kirkpatrick and sounding even poppier, the second Ready Set album, The Bad & the Better, was released in May of 2014. Witzigreuter spent 2015 on a side project along with the Ready Set's live guitarist, Cameron Walker. Teaming with Summer Set drummer Jess Bowen, the trio formed Nekokat and released the Communication EP in June of 2015. Meanwhile, the Ready Set had switched labels again, this time moving to Hopeless Records. Their third album, I Will Be Nothing Without Your Love, was released in April of 2016 and featured an even more mainstream pop-friendly sound. ~ Andrew Leahey.