San Zhi (No 1,280)

Hometown: Bournemouth via Egypt.

The lineup: Peter Howarth-Brown (vocals, guitar) and Suraya (vocals).

The background: The Sanzhi UFO houses were a series of futuristic pod-shaped buildings in Taiwan designed in the late 70s for visiting US military personnel. San Zhi, on the other hand, are a pop duo comprising a boy from Bournemouth and a girl from Egypt who have been making music together for a while but have just recruited three musicians to make them a five-piece at least for live performances – they play their first ever London gig on Friday at Aces & Eights in Tufnell Park, where you may well just about manage to find a spot to stand jostled as you surely will be by all the record company types from all the labels that have apparently been expressing interest in them ever since they posted two tracks online.

They've been recording in Reims, France, with Guillaume Briere of the Shoes who we wrote about last year under the instructions of guest editor Mike Skinner. And apparently Sam Duckworth of late-00s indie rock troupe Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly is also involved. None of the four tracks we've heard by them bears the influence of either the Shoes or Get Cape – or of modernist architecture, for that matter – but they are very good, and more importantly, they have commercial potential, and just need the right producer to tease that out. The Ex-Factor, one of the two tracks posted online, ticks some boxes with its woozy keyboards, pretty melody and subtly soulful female vocals from the school of Jessie Ware and AlunaGeorge, and the beat is strong but slow with some of the ghostly leftfield ambience of Polica. The arrangement is full of space and bloops, like chillwave trip-hop, before the rhythm starts to skank like the highly touted Wild Belle, who we raved about earlier this year. A lot of boxes.

On Blackholes Suraya's voice is the cute side of soulful, and the songwriting is interesting. It sounds like a chillified, post-Lana cover version of a rock song that we can't recall and is keenly aware of contemporary developments while also considering the value of a song that can connect with a wide audience. This doesn't really fit in either the indie or alternative categories; rather it's potentially big-league stuff. Ice Light makes us think of a Spector-esque New Order playing a rousing Bruce Springsteen rocker. The verse alludes to "dread" but the chorus – "get up, get up, get up!" – couldn't be more chant-worthy. The keyboard intro to Towards the Sun has a sort of US cop-show theme feel and the song's lyric asks the usual relationship break-up questions ("If I don't have you, will I fall?") but the way it's framed makes them seem insightful and true. Again, it doesn't have an indie quality so much as it feels like a demo for something mainstream and big – with, again, the choice of producer being crucial. Finally, there's Static Hearts which also bears a guitar sound that you could imagine on a popular mainstream AOR track, with a melody to match. If you're passing Tufnell Park on Friday night, prepare for a hot'n'squashy close encounter.

The buzz: "A lovely, chime-y, softly sung number that sounds like a sweet breeze on a warm day" – dummymag.com.

The truth: They're Taiwan-derful.

Most likely to: Produce a great debut EP.

Least likely to: Tell producer Paul Epworth, "You F.O.!"

What to buy: An EP will be released soon on their own label and will be available to download on their website.

File next to: Wild Belle, Polica, AlunaGeorge, the Other Two.

Links: soundcloud.com/san-zhi.

Friday's new band: Princess Chelsea.