Carte Blanche Music |

Around eight years ago, three musicians from all over the UK met in York. Zach Lount, Joe Martin and James Basile went on to form King No-One. They started out busking for money, building a loyal fanbase. Now, in ‘normal’ times, they sell 8.000 concert tickets a year.

Obsolete is the band’s new single. A great song that combines ‘00s R&B and ‘90s grunge with drum computer sounds straight from the ‘80s. It takes inspiration from artists spanning genres as well as decades, which results in a song full of energy.

Lount says Obsolete is about ‘the pursuit of hedonism to mask the shame that depression can leave you with. And the first acknowledgment that you kinda suck and don’t want to suck anymore’.

Recommended as well:
King No-One – Bad Porno

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single track

Julia Bardo – Do This To Me

May 15th, 2021

The first time I heard Julia Bardo’s new single, I though it was former 10,000 Maniacs singer Natalie Merchant. But she isn’t, obviously.

Bardo was born in Northern Italy. There, she sang and wrote lyrics for a local band between shifts at her father’s bar. After relocating to Manchester, she joined post-punk band Working Men’s Club. Nowadays however, she’s working hard to develop her solo career. She already supported Blossoms live, and played her own headline shows.

10 September, she’ll release her debut album Bauhaus, L’Appartamento. It was named after the apartment complex she lived in when demoing the album’s recordings, but with an Italian twist. Ahead of the long-player, she just released her new single. “Do This To Me is a very personal song about feeling abandoned, growing up and family”, according to the singer, songwriter and guitarist.

The introspective lyrics are accompanied by a charming, lush and laid-back melody. After listening, you’ll probably forgive me for mistaking Julia Bardo for Natalie Merchant, both vocally and musically.

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indie | pop | rock

single track

Winnetka Bowling League & Sasha Sloan – barcelona

May 15th, 2021

Alexandra Yatchenko is an American singer and songwriter with Russian roots, known professionally as Sasha Sloan. She’s the 402nd most popular artist on Spotify which, on a global scale, is huge! In 2019, Winnetka Bowling League opened for her on tour and they’ve kept in touch ever since. When WBL front man Matthew Koma sent her a demo of his new track, barcelona, she immediately fell in love with it.

The final version has just been released. It’s the first single from the band’s upcoming EP, which follows their single Congratulations. Most importantly: it continues that song’s poppy sound. Barcelona has the bouncing indie-pop melodies we’ve come to expect from WBL. With every new single, they come closer to perfecting that sound.

Koma says of the track: “barcelona is a song about still being able to have love for the person that it didn’t work out with. I always feel the urge to discredit every ounce of a relationship after it’s over because it feels way better than scrolling the highlight feed… but sometimes there was a lot of good worth recognizing and the ending doesn’t have to be this big dramatic ‘delete all’.”

For Sasha Sloan, this collaboration follows earlier alliances with Meghan Trainor & Lennon Stella, Kygo, Charlie Puth and Sam Hunt.

Recommended as well:
Come To The Beach
Diane
Feeling California

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

pop | rock

single track

Valeras – Rita

May 15th, 2021

Valeras are a Reading-based duo, consisting of Rose Yagmur and Max Sealy. The former’s family fled their home in Venezuela to settle in the UK when she was just 10 years old. They didn’t receive the warm welcome they had hoped for, and struggled to become accepted in their new country. For Rose, this resulted in feelings of loneliness, abandonment, and consequently a desire to empower the downtrodden. All of this is reflected in her lyrics.

Since 2018, Valeras went on the road with the likes of Yonaka, Drenge, King Nun and The Wombats. They also played festivals across the world, including Sziget (Hungary) and Mad Cool (Madrid). In the process, they released seven singles, which racked up millions of streams in total.

The duo just dropped single #8. Rita is an explosive indie-rock track; undoubtedly their most ambitious and personal work to date. It was co-written and co-produced by Tarek Musa (of Spring King) and mixed by Claudius Mittendorf (Weezer, Parquet Courts).

Late in the summer, Valeras will finally release their eagerly awaited debut EP.

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

indie | rock

single track

Laura Mvula – Got Me

May 15th, 2021

2 July, Laura Mvula will release her third album Pink Noise. But to her, it’s more than just that. The Birmingham artist describes it as ‘the album I always wanted to make’. As the first two singles Safe Passage and Church Girl already made clear, it’ll be heavily influenced by 1980s synth-pop.

That’s only confirmed by the third song to be released ahead of the long-player. Got Me is a great track that wouldn’t have been out of place on a Michael Jackson album. The bass line brings tracks like The Way You Make Me Feel or Leave Me Alone to mind, while the horns and the funky guitar could’ve been sampled from an early ‘80s record by The Jacksons. A colourful song that makes you want to dance.

Slightly over the top, a press release describes Got Me as ‘a funk-fuelled release of inhibitions’, and ‘another taste of the euphoric feel-good sonics Laura explores without fear on her new album’. Can’t wait for 2 July!

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pop

album track

Linn Koch-Emmery – Dirty Words

May 15th, 2021

Scandinavia is well-known as ‘pop heaven’, but they also have artists who like to throw in a guitar or two. Stockholm-based Linn Koch-Emmery is one of them. A consequence of her German and British roots perhaps? Oh well, let’s not search for answers, but just enjoy her fresh indie-rock songs with killer choruses.

Koch-Emmery may be releasing music since 2016, she’s only just put out her debut album Being The Girl. An 11-track long-player that already includes four great singles. More will probably follow, for it holds other great songs. One of the best in my opinion is called Dirty Words, although it isn’t explicit at all. It’s got hints of early ‘90s New Order, and lyrically it features dark humour and a sense of self-distance.

Dirty Words would make a strong fifth single, as far as I’m concerned.

Recommended as well:
Linn Koch-Emmery – Hologram Love

Follow Linn Koch-Emmery on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

indie | pop | rock

single track

Lahos x Svea – Bad Thing

May 15th, 2021

Leonard Biwer is an upcoming Cologne-born and Berlin-based multi-instrumentalist and producer. As Lahos, he worked with Younotus, Alle Farben, The Rasmus, Eli and others in recent years. Hot on the heels of his debut EP Youth Pattern, he just released his best song, so far. Once again, it’s a collaboration, this time with emerging Swedish singer and songwriter Svea Kågemark.

Bad Thing is an up-tempo tune with cutting-edge beats, funky guitars and catchy choirs. Svea’s strong vocals fit this massive musical backdrop like a glove. A danceable track, but 100% pop. Only just over 2 minutes long, there’s no reason whatsoever not to playlist this one. Hit!

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

indie | pop

single track

St. Vincent – Down

May 15th, 2021

Since March, St. Vincent (née Annie Clark) releases a single every month. Each of them was meant to be a teaser for her new album Daddy’s Home, which came out last week. Just like Masseducation, the one before, it was produced by fun.’s Jack Antonoff. Clark explained that the new album was inspired by her father’s release from prison for white-collar crime, as well as his vinyl collection from the ’70s.

By the sound of her latest single, Down, her dad liked his music slick and funky. The song opens with a minimalistic synth riff in the vein of Stevie Wonder. Later on, we also hear touches of soul, electronic music, r&b and indie. Vocally, Kate Bush and Joss Stone appear to have been sources of inspiration. All in all, it’s a diverse track that doesn’t bore for one second.

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

funk | indie | pop

single track

Edouard Landry – Words

May 15th, 2021

Edouard Landry is a Canadian artist who, thus far, recorded his music in French. This resulted in nominations for Francophone Artist of the Year and Best Album by a Francophone Artist, among others. Now, after four long-players in French, he’s ready to release his first English-language album. Entitled Be Here Now, it’ll be out on 4 June.

Despite the title of his upcoming record, Landry makes timeless pop music. With a prominent role for the piano, it brings Elton John and Billy Joel to mind. New single Words is a great example. It describes an analogy between building and song-writing. He had almost finished it, when he visited the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. There, he saw a quote from Philip Guston about artists needing to ‘make concrete how [they] feel’. Landry found this to be the final missing piece of Words, which tied the story up nicely.

In the lyrics, Landry references his former career in French: ‘En Français, ‘cause maybe I like to hide’. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no need to be shy. Words is a great step forward, and is likely to appeal to a larger audience than he ever had before.

Follow Edouard Landry on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

indie | pop

single track

Rebecca Lou – Lovesick

May 15th, 2021

Technically, Rebecca Lou are a Danish trio, but there’s no doubt Rebecca Louise Armstrong is its front woman. If you thought their music so far was too punky, too dark and/or too sad, here’s your chance to start and love them. New single Lovesick is the first track to be released ahead of the band’s upcoming sophomore album Heavy Metal Feelings. An upbeat, fun, powerful, playful and bright love anthem, it could give Pink a run for her money. In the piano melody, Clock Opera’s Belongings shines through. Now that’s one hell of a recommendation!

When I just described Lovesick as a love anthem, I didn’t mean your usual love anthem. Talking about the track, Rebecca explains: “The inspiration for Lovesick came after I met my friend’s tarantula Jenny. I thought she was so adorable and creepy cute, that I started daydreaming about her becoming a real human being and how we would fall in love and the whole world would turn into a big thunderstorm of pure romance. That’s why the chorus goes ‘Jenny come alive / all your colours make me high’. It was a very weird and funny way to kick-start the track thematically, and I ended up sticking with it, because I thought it was funny.”

Follow Rebecca Lou on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify

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

indie | pop | rock

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