Carte Blanche Music |

Norwegian six-piece Kakkmaddafakka had a prolific year. They released their sixth album Diplomacy and a slew of great singles, as you may have read here before. This week, they gave birth to another ‘baby’. Hopefully, the brand-new track precedes more fresh material.

With Kakkmaddafakka’s happy indie-pop music, summer is always around the corner. New single Baby is no exception. It’s as upbeat, catchy and energetic as always, with fat drums and a driving piano underpinning the sing-along lyrics. The well-crafted, feel-good kind of song radio used to fall for. And they still should.

Not only are Kakkmaddafakka’s tunes perfect for the radio, they also make for a great live party. Do yourself a favour and go see in February, March or April 2020 on their upcoming European tour. For now, Baby is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!

In the Wildcards 2019 playlist you can find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.

werner's weekly

Werner’s Weekly (week 50)

December 9th, 2019

This is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:

Julie Zenatti – Tout Est Plus Pop (Wildcard this week)
Sebu – The Secret Is Out [Lucas Vidal Arrangement] (Wildcard last week)
Corine – Un Air De Fête À Tokyo [Japanese Version]
Fitz & The Tantrums – I Just Wanna Shine
North Parade – Keepthingscasual
Peggy Sue – Validate Me
Spacey Jane – Head Cold

Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player below.

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: Alanis Morissette, Polish Club, Regina Spektor, and many more.

single track

Superbird – Think You Got Me

December 8th, 2019

I consider myself a fan of British band Superbird, and it’s all their fault. Kicking off the year in funky fashion, they released their maiden single Cola Bottle Fizz on 4 January. It was requested by Sara Cox herself to become the official theme-tune for her brand-new ITV programme ‘The Sara Cox Show’.

Throughout the year, Superbird put out songs by an average of one every two months. Indeed, Think You Got Me is their sixth single already. Its first notes bring Let’s Stick Together by Bryan Ferry to mind, but ten seconds into the track it’s clear it possesses all of Superbird’s trademark elements. Think You Got Me is another funky indie-pop gem with disco drum rolls, horn stabs and irresistible vocal hooks.

I think they got me the first time around, but I’m sure they got me now.

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

funk | indie | pop

single track

Hoshi – Amour Censure

December 8th, 2019

The last two years, Hoshi broke through in her home country France. Singles like Ta Marinière and Je Vous Trouve Un Charme Fou became hits and ended up on her debut album Il Suffit D’y Croire. Last week, she announced her sophomore long-player will come out in 2020.

Talking of coming out: in the same announcement, Hoshi presented her new single Amour Censure. A song that denounces homophobia. ‘There’s no censored love / There’s only true love’, she sings. Hoshi declared to have been a victim of aggression herself, six years ago.

Recommended as well:
Hoshi – Je Vous Trouve Un Charme Fou

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

indie | pop

single track

Lorelei – Skylight

December 8th, 2019

If you enjoy The Cure or, more recently, Pale Waves, you should try this as well. Lorelei is an Australian duo, consisting of Claudia Schmidt and Arlen McCarthy. They produce a dark, passionate and catchy mix of shoegaze and dream-pop.

Skylight is only Lorelei’s second single. It follows their debut I Am A Road, which came out earlier this year. The band recorded both songs (and hopefully more) with Lachlan Mitchell of The Jezabels.

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

indie | pop | rock

single track

North Parade – Keepthingscasual

December 6th, 2019

North Parade are an upcoming indie-pop band formed in Birmingham, but currently based in London. It consists of Henry Plumridge (vocals/guitar/piano), Chris Ettinger (guitar/vocals/synth), James Dewing (bass) and Ollie Clark (drums/percussion/vocals). In anticipation of their new EP How To Be Good, they shared its lead single Keepthingscasual. A track they say was written ‘entirely on a phone between a notes app and music software loops’.

Keepthingscasual is an up-tempo pop/rock song full of hooks and with an infectious chorus. It brings The Wombats to mind, which is never a bad thing. One can hear the band had fun recording it, and you’ll surely have fun listening to it.

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

indie | pop | rock

remake, single track

Corine – Un Air De Fête À Tokyo [Japanese Version]

December 6th, 2019

One year ago, French nu-disco queen Corine released her debut album Un Air De Fête. A party record indeed, to which it’s impossible to sit still. I’ve recommended several of the album’s singles, but the title track was my favourite. Not in the least because of the irresistible synth, that appears to be borrowed from Donna Summer’s I Feel Love. There’s no denying Giorgio Moroder has been a big influence, anyway.

Two years ago, Corine put out an Italian version of her debut single Pourquoi Pourquoi (called Perché Perché). Now, she chose Un Air De Fête as her next single. However, as the new title Un Air De Fête À Tokyo gives away, it’s sung in Japanese. That doesn’t make it an easy choice for radio stations in Europe, for whom French is difficult enough. But it’s a clever move for her to break through in Japan, with its 126 million inhabitants. And for those who listen first and foremost to the song as a whole, it’s still the same fun track it always was.

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

disco | funk | pop

single track

Fitz & The Tantrums – I Just Wanna Shine

December 5th, 2019

Tastemakers have had Fitz & The Tantrums on their radar since their 2009 debut EP Songs For A Breakup: Volume 1. A year later, Moneygrabber was the band’s first hit, followed by Out Of My League (2013) and Handclap (2016). Helped by a slew of remixes, the latter has been streamed over 400 million times now.

Fitz & The Tantrums’ latest album All The Feels just produced its fifth single: I Just Wanna Shine. It follows 123456, I Need Help!, Don’t Ever Let ‘em and the title track. In the video, we see a young girl wake up every morning to take care of her family. Then, she skateboards through Los Angeles to find different locales to practice her passion: breakdancing. After getting kicked out of various parking lots, she finds the perfect place to dance: the rooftop of her apartment building. This boasts a breath-taking view of the LA skyline.

Already a streaming success, Fitz & The Tantrums just released a radio edit of I Just Wanna Shine. With radio on board as well, this could very well be a new smash for the band.

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

pop

single track

Peggy Sue – Validate Me

December 5th, 2019

When I was on holiday last October, Peggy Sue released the great single Motorcade. I didn’t get to write about it, but it’s still worth checking out, obviously. Now, the London duo come up with follow-up track Validate Me. A folky rock song, with a fresh lead melody, backed with fuzzy guitars.

Katy Young of the duo says: “We were listening to a lot of Ramones, and female bands that borrow from them – like Colleen Green and Vivian Girls. Validate Me takes inspiration from the way they can combine sweet and vulnerable and seething and heavy all in one track. This song owns up to a set of emotions that aren’t particularly empowering – to getting validation from someone else’s desire for you. But there’s something empowering about admitting to them.”

Motorcade and Validate Me, along with their 2017 single Slow Fade, will appear on Peggy Sue’s next album Vices. Released on 21 February 2020, it will be their first long-player in 6 years’ time.

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

folk | indie | rock

single track

Nada Surf – Something I Should Do

December 4th, 2019

Way, way, way back, in 1996, Nada Surf scored a worldwide hit: the aptly titled Popular. A highly melodic, somewhat nerdy, but extremely lovable rock song. The fact they didn’t have another hit like that in later years, is everyone’s fault but theirs. For the band never stopped making brilliant music. Radio stations may have overlooked that, but the fans didn’t. Nada Surf has always been a very successful live act, although they didn’t tour much in recent years.

Mid-January 2020 however, a new world tour will start in the US. End of February, they’ll cross the Atlantic for an extensive European visit, only to return to Canadian and American stages in May and June.

The tour supports Nada Surf’s upcoming ninth album Never Not Together, which will be out on 7 February 2020. Something I Should Do is the first single off the record. A delicious rock song with spacey synths and, most importantly, a spoken word section that reminds of Popular. Nada Surf has come full circle. How about radio doing the same?

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

indie | pop | rock

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Wildcard (week 50):
Kakkmaddafakka – Baby

Werner’s Weekly (week 50)

Superbird – Think You Got Me

Hoshi – Amour Censure

Lorelei – Skylight

North Parade – Keepthingscasual

Corine – Un Air De Fête À Tokyo [Japanese Version]

Fitz & The Tantrums – I Just Wanna Shine

Peggy Sue – Validate Me

Nada Surf – Something I Should Do

Wildcard (week 50)

Werner’s Weekly (week 50)

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Spotify playlist

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