Carte Blanche Music

Wildcard (week 25):
K.Flay – Sister

June 19th, 2019

K.Flay is an Illinois born-and-raised, hip hop-inspired alt-pop artist. After two independently released albums in 2009 and 2014, she broke through with her 2017 major label debut Every Where Is Some Where. It received two Grammy nominations. So, the bar has been set high for her next album Solutions, due out 12 July.

If her new single is anything to go by, K.Flay is about to live up to the expectations. Sister is a genre-blurring song, incorporating analogue synths along with live bass and guitar, while shifting between pop, rock, hip hop, and electronic moods. This is the kind of track the word ‘banger’ is made for.

K.Flay’s new single Sister will feature prominently on the Carte Blanche Music blog for one whole week as the new Wildcard.

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

single track

Mamacita feat. Didy & Roy Paci – (Yo No Soy Tu) Nena

June 19th, 2019

One of the things that make summer a bloody fine season, are summer hits. This might be a good contender for this year, I think…

Mamacita is an Italian collective of producers, DJ’s, MC’s and performers, which has its own radio show, releases compilation albums, hosts festivals, curates playlists and puts out songs. Their new single also features Dominican singer/dancer Didy and singer/trumpet player Roy Paci.

With Nena (which comes in an Italian and a Spanish version) the summer has officially started, as far as I’m concerned.

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

hip hop | latin | pop | tropical

single track

Yorke – Thought I Could

June 18th, 2019

There are tons of great music coming from Australia, but alas not all of it catches on abroad. That must be due to the huge amount of releases in this streaming era, for purely based on song quality, the percentage of Australian hits should be much higher than it is.

Up and coming Byron Bay-born singer-songwriter Yorke (real name Grace Hughes) is another good example. She only released her appropriately named debut single First Light at the end of 2018 and her new single is only her third.

Thought I Could paints a dreamy indie-pop picture with cinematic production, dark keys, punchy drums, and a big chorus with a catchy hook. In the song, Yorke questions the reality of leaving her hometown to follow her dreams in Sydney, and the consequences of her decisions by having to leave someone behind.

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

electronic | pop

single track

The Beautiful Monument – Reaper

June 18th, 2019

Australian all-female rock quartet The Beautiful Monument consists of Lizi (vocals), Andy (guitar), Alex (guitar) and Amy (bass). On 28 June they’ll follow-up on their debut album I’m The Sin (2017) with their second long-player I’m The Reaper. You can expect energetic songs, powerful hooks and moody grooves, with influences from the likes of PVRIS and Evanescence.

Reaper, more or less the album’s title track, is The Beautiful Monument’s new single. It’s about the passing of a close friend of the band.

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

indie | rock

single track

Kasador – High Rise

June 18th, 2019

Kasador is a Canadian indie-rock band. The quartet was formed in 2012 as the Will Hunter Band, until the group’s name was changed in early 2015. Members as of March 2019 are Will Hunter, Cam Wyatt, Boris Baker, and Stephen Abudofuor.

The band is currently getting ready for the fall release of their debut album Brood And Bloom, produced in part by Graham Walsh (Sam Roberts, Lights, Wintersleep) and by Rob Baker and Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip. The long-player will feature the two tracks Kasador released in 2017 (Come Get Yer Money and Skeleton Park), title track Brood And Bloom from earlier this year, as well as brand-new single High Rise.

“This song came out of a few middle-of-the-night writing sessions, where my mind could not sleep and would race until morning. My only relief was to get up and write,” the band explain. “High Rise is written from the perspective of feeling pressure, self-doubt, and questioning your future through that wave of midnight anxiety.”

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

indie | pop | rock

single track

Montaigne – Ready

June 18th, 2019

The last thing I heard from Montaigne (the Sydney-based singer whose real name is Jessica Cerro), was her collaboration with The Bamboos. Their cover version of The Easybeats’ 1966 single I’ll Make You Happy was a Carte Blanche Music Wildcard at the end of 2017.

Now, Montaigne is back with her most anthemic single so far. Ready is a soundtrack for activism, built around simple drumbeats, her soaring vocals, and the irresistible hook ‘I think I’m ready to go, I think I’m ready’. The singer explains: “To me the song is about this political moment, where humanity is starting to realise how actually cooked this planet is, that it never had to be like this, and that we have the power now to overthrow those who’ve forced us into this corner.”

Ready is released ahead of Montaigne’s second album Complex, which is set for release on 30 August. The list of producers who helped shape the album reads like a who-is-who of modern pop music. On Complex, she worked with Tony Buchen (Courtney Barnett, The Preatures), Wynne Bennett (Twin Shadow, Janelle Monae), Kyle Shearer (Dua Lipa, Broods, K.Flay), Mozella (Madonna, Miley Cyrus, One Direction), Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Foals), Mario Späte (Tkay Maidza, Urthboy, Allday) and Eric J Dubowsky (Flume, St. Vincent, Dua Lipa).

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

pop

single track

Friedberg – Go Wild

June 17th, 2019

Anna Wappel uses Anna F. (short for the Austrian town of Friedberg, where she was born) as her artist name. In 2009, she was discovered by Lenny Kravitz, who asked her to open for him on his European tour. Signed by Universal Music, she released two commercially successful and award-winning solo albums: For Real (2010) and King In The Mirror (2014). Nevertheless, she decided to break away from the major label and take the indie road.

This road led her to London, where she formed the all-female band Friedberg with Emily Linden, Laura Williams and Cheryl Pinero. After debuting with the song Boom, their new single Go Wild is only their second offering. Despite its title, it’s a cool and relaxed tune.

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

indie | pop | rock

single track

Ceylon Ceylon (feat. Graziella) – Why Don’t They Love You

June 17th, 2019

Coming from classical and electronic backgrounds respectively, James (from New York) and Josh (from London), who form Ceylon Ceylon, have begun to blend their love of music into a powerful pop sound. They are now set to release two new singles with UK hip hop artist and established soul singer Graziella: the funk driven electro pop track Why Don’t They Love You and follow-up single Ghost.

As the duo explain: “The tracks are written from two different perspectives; Why Don’t They Love You questions how fulfilling it is to love our digital selves more than our analogue selves, while Ghost is a reflection on the emptiness we feel when comparing ourselves to the stream of flawlessness on social media.”

Why Don’t They Love You boasts a vintage synth sound and a killer bass line, all wrapped up in a contemporary production. On top of that musical backdrop, Graziella delivers a sassy vocal performance full of swag.

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

electronic | funk | pop

werner's weekly

Werner’s Weekly (week 25)

June 17th, 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:

Jay Som – Superbike (Wildcard this week)
Rammstein – Ausländer (Wildcard last week)
Altered By Mom – Hear That Sound
Jesse Merineau – She Knows
Flay – Sister
Sløtface – Telepathetic
Sorcha Richardson – Don’t Talk About It

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: Black Honey, Eckhardt & The House feat. Bella Hay, Kaiser Chiefs, Volbeat, and many more.

electronic | indie | pop | punk | rock

single track

Akiva – Broken Ships

June 16th, 2019

Akiva is a Bedfordshire (UK)-based band, comprising youth friends Malcolm Carter (guitar, vox), Rob Mercel (bass) and Dave Mercel (drums), alongside singer, guitarist and synth programmer Dave MacKenzie. 11 months ago, I wrote about their single Ammunition. A song with a strong message, just like any of this band’s tunes. “We’ve always believed music should stand for something and carry a message,” the band explain. “There’s a lot to shout about in the world today, and we’ve got a lot to say.”

Their new single is no exception to that rule. It’s nothing less than an angry takedown of the forces behind Brexit Britain. “Broken Ship is about the importance of consequences for actions, and how quickly things start to fall apart when these get lost,“ says MacKenzie, whose rhythmic lyricism is one of the ear-catching elements in this song. The video adds an eye-catching element to the already impressive song.

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

indie | pop | rock

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Wildcard (week 25):
K.Flay – Sister

Mamacita feat. Didy & Roy Paci – (Yo No Soy Tu) Nena

Yorke – Thought I Could

The Beautiful Monument – Reaper

Kasador – High Rise

Montaigne – Ready

Friedberg – Go Wild

Ceylon Ceylon (feat. Graziella) – Why Don’t They Love You

Werner’s Weekly (week 25)

Akiva – Broken Ships

Wildcard (week 25)

Werner’s Weekly (week 25)

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Wildcard (week 25)

Werner’s Weekly (week 25)

Spotify playlist

Social Media

Subscribe via email

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