October 31st, 2020
single track
Ivan & The Parazol – Játék
Hungarian five-piece Ivan & The Parazol gained a large audience with their great songs in English. But apparently, this didn’t feel quite good. In a press release, the band state: “During some parts of our ten-year career we tried to be something we’ll never be, mirroring ourselves with our American and English inspirations. We just recently realised that being honest is the key to being authentic – which is the only goal as an artist.”
This discovery resulted in a new album, Budai Pop, which is entirely in their native tongue. It will be released in 2021. Ivan & The Parazol see this fifth album as a celebration of their roots.
Their new single Játék (Hungarian for ‘game’) is a great example of this new direction. If you’re prepared to step aside the fact it’s less of a sing-along affair, you’ll hear a well crafted and very accessible song. Musically, it’s still their interpretation of ‘70s glam-pop, incorporating modern psych-rock instrumentation and a touch of world music. Játék comes with a beautiful arthouse style video.
Recommended as well:
Ivan & The Parazol – Changin’
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single trackPixey – Free To Live In Colour
Pixey – Free To Live In Colour
Liverpudlian DIY artist Lizzie Hillesdon, a.k.a. Pixey, doesn’t hide her inspirations. Her latest single Just Move for instance referenced The Stone Roses, King Bee and Madonna. In her new single Free To Live In Colour, Phil Collins’ Another Day In Paradise subtly shines through.
Where Just Move was meant to get people moving (obviously), this new song has a more seductive nature. It’s a suspenseful track, a little bit spooky even, with some psychedelic touches. Through her imaginative lyrics, Hillesdon describes her daily struggle to be herself and to be liberated. Just like her mother and father during their carefree, youthful days.
Pixey explains: “Free To Live In Colour was written, recorded and produced in my bedroom at a time where I was struggling to understand and express my identity. I wrote the lyrics to sound like a fever dream, but it’s really about staying true to yourself and not being afraid to change, even though life can often feel like a rat race. There’s so many dimensions to what living in colour means, so you can interpret that in whatever way means something to you.”
Recommended as well:
Pixey – Just Move
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single trackFletcher Gull – City Is Busy
Fletcher Gull – City Is Busy
It’s been 13 years since Melbourne’s Fletcher Gull started making music at the age of 8. In the meantime, he developed into a promising singer-songwriter. I’m not the only one who noticed that, obviously. The credits of his new single City Is Busy read like a ‘who is who’ of Australian pop music. It was produced by Japanese Wallpaper (Mallrat, Wafia) and Dave Hammer (Lime Cordiale, Genesis Owusu), and mixed by Francois Tetaz (Gotye).
City Is Busy was crafted in isolation but destined for the stage. It’s a sparkling song with ‘80s New Romantic synths, a pulsating bass and big drums. Gull wrote the track about an encounter in the street: “She talked to me for a while, telling me about how her life used to be great in the ‘80s but now the city’s busy, cold and lonely”, he recounts. “She said she used to have fun with her friends and motorbike around Australia, but now she can’t even sit on the street without getting fined or arrested. She was tired of everything, old with nothing to look forward to, just waiting to be crucified.”
Recommended as well:
Fletcher Gull – Deciduo [2020 Version]
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track
Mooneye (feat. Meskerem Mees) – Bright Lights
Mooneye is the band of Belgian’s Michiel Libberecht. Often compared to Fleet Foxes and Neil Young, they’re masters in blending folk, rock and indie-pop. Their upcoming debut album however, shows a slight change of direction, letting the singer-songwriter in Libberecht take centre stage even more.
Their new single Bright Lights is a collaboration of two ‘award winning’ artists. Mooneye themselves won Studio Brussel’s talent show De Nieuwe Lichting early 2019. Fellow Belgian singer Meskerem Mees won magazine Humo’s Rock Rally competition. The track came about during a backstage jam session. This resulted in a well-crafted song with a beautiful melody, and voices that blend wonderfully.
Bright Lights is a great start of this new chapter in Mooneye’s career. Alas, we’ll have to wait another year for their album to come out…
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track
Julie & Joe – Marelle
Joe Moore is a prolific British producer, who is involved in countless projects. The Yearning, The Perfect Kiss, Lia Pamina, Cristina Quesada, and Maddie Mae, to name but a few. Now, he is also half of Julie & Joe. The other half is Julie Big, the singer of French band Le SuperHomard.
Julie & Joe just released their first mini album Marelle, and the title track is its second single. It’s a sugar-coated tribute to the synth-pop music that was made in France at the beginning of the eighties. Think of Elli Medeiros & Jacno, Lio, Mikado, etc. All of them singers with songs that were both playful and danceable. Meanwhile, you can also hear echoes of bands like New Order and Depeche Mode in Marelle. The first tones of the track must have been inspired by the opening of the latter’s People Are People.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track
Flyte – I’ve Got A Girl
Following their 2017 debut album The Loved Ones, Flyte put out two EP’s and a few singles. Their latest tracks Easy Tiger and Losing You will both appear on their upcoming album, out in Spring 2021. That goes for their new single I’ve Got A Girl as well.
Lead vocalist Will Taylor explains: “Where all the other tracks on this record are about a romantic relationship coming to an end, this covers the loss of a creative one. Breaking up with a friend and band member. There’s definitely a bitterness listening back to it, but at its core is the sound of a band completely letting go and having a genuinely cathartic time. We recorded it very late at night and more than a little intoxicated.”
Despite this cold context, the song has a warm feeling to it. Imagine The Beatles, Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear all playing on the same track. It was recorded in LA with producers Justin Raisen (Charli XCX, Sky Ferreira) and Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver).
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track
Tyne-James Organ – Not Ready For Love
With hard work, great live performances and undeniable talent, Tyne-James Organ has steadily grown his audience and reputation over the last few years. His honest lyrics are one of the Melbourne-based singer-songwriter’s trump cards. That’s no different with his new single, the follow-up to Hold Me Back.
Not Ready For Love is an impressive track about a love that is inevitably destined for failure. Yet he chooses to focus on hope for the future. While the lyrics are somewhat somber, the instrumentation shines with its driving guitar riffs and pulsating percussion. Very nicely produced by Chris Collins.
Tyne-James Organ says about the track: “Not Ready For Love is another boppy sop from me but this time I tried exploring it in more of a way of accepting and understanding. Keeping the energy up to show hope. I find myself being able to dance and cry at the same time to this one. Love is a never ending cycle we live over and over, so part of me wanted to share the irony in that.”
Recommended as well:
Tyne-James Organ – Hold Me Back
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 44):
Wildcard (week 44):
Rooue – What You Want
Roísín & Louisa O’Connor are twin sisters. They were born in London, but have been living in Dublin, Ireland since their pre-teens. As a pop duo, Ro and Lou call themselves Rooue (see what they did there? 😉 ).
Their beautifully blending, slightly distorted harmonies are a signature part of their sound. The razor sharp and up-to-date production does the rest. What You Want is only their debut single. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Nao, Banks, Lennon Stella and Christina Aguilera, it combines electronic dark pop with a hint of old-school R&B. In a way, it reminds me a bit of another recent debut single: Loud Boy by Archie X.
Speaking on the single, Rooue says: “What You Want is about how we as women within the music industry and within everyday life have felt the pressures to conform within societies expectations. The story line stems from our experience studying in music college. On one hand being forced to be authentic, yet being criticised when not fulfilling their mould whilst reaching our authentic sound.”
With What You Want, the twins clearly and convincingly found their own voice and style. With this very promising debut, Rooue secure this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
In the Wildcards 2020 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
werner's weekly
Werner’s Weekly (week 44)
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:
- Abbie Ozard – True Romance (Wildcard this week)
- Palace Winter (feat. Penny Police) – Richard (Says Yes) (Wildcard last week)
- Efecto Pasillo feat. Huecco – Funketón [2020 Version]
- Gin Wigmore – HBIC
- Pyro – Come Back For You
- The Vices – In And Out
- Veronica Fusaro – Beach
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: Eric Prydz, Paloma Faith, Pet Shop Boys, and more.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
album track
beabadoobee – Charlie Brown
In September 2017, beabadoobee released her very first single Coffee. It immediately made heads turn at Dirty Hit Records, home to The 1975, Pale Waves, Wolf Alice and many others. Also, it drew 300.000 viewers on YouTube and grabbed the attention of Canadian rapper Powfu. He incorporated a sample of the track in his single Death Bed (Coffee For Your Head), which became a worldwide hit in early 2020. In an interview, beabadoobee said about that: “I kinda hated it. I hated more people knowing about the first song I’d ever written and not my others.” Nevertheless, it formed a perfect launch pad for her own career.
In the last months, she released no less than five singles ahead of her debut album Fake It Flowers. Care, Sorry, Worth It, How Was Your Day? and Together are all on it. My favourite track however is Charlie Brown. Not exactly because of its light-hearted theme, because it’s a dark song about auto-mutilation. But it’s also a driving song, full of energy. Explosive even, in a Nirvana kind of way. Epic stuff by a very promising artist who is only 20 years of age.
Recommended as well:
beabadoobee – She Plays Bass
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
