December 30th, 2020
Your favourites (2020)
My container playlist Carte Blanche Music 2020 doesn’t only include all of the 994 songs I recommended last year. It also holds the 100 best tracks in my opinion, the Carte Blanche Music Top 2020, which I published yesterday. But that’s only my selection. Isn’t it more interesting to see which of my recommendations you read the most? In other words: what were your favourites in 2020?
I think it’s funny to see the Carte Blanche Music blog has a strong archive function. That’s apparent from the number of older posts you still like to visit (and which you find via search engines). A good example is the best read article this year: Toukassé by Shanguy. It stems from 2019, just like 24 other entries in the list below. Even more impressing is La Roi De Murphy, Belgian songstress Angèle’s debut single from 2017 (also her break-through), which is still among the 20 most read blogs in 2020.
Thank you for being such loyal visitors of Carte Blanche Music. Don’t miss a single recommendation by following me on Twitter, Facebook or, new for 2021, Instagram! I’ll do my best to make sure those accounts will soon be your favourites too, just like the tracks below:
- Shanguy – Toukassé (2019) (WC)
- Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
- Dopha – The Game
- Rick Astley – Every One Of Us
- Lola Le Lann – Portofino
- Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið – Think About Things
- Pyro – Come Back For You
- Rat Boy – Brave New World
- Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (WC)
- Gotts Street Park feat. Flikka – Favourite Kind Of Girl
- Raye – Natalie Don’t
- Liela Moss – Atoms At Me
- Friedberg – Go Wild (2019)
- Lola Lennox – Back At Wrong
- Fixkes – Dardennen
- Eliza & The Delusionals – Just Exist (2019)
- Angèle – La Loi De Murphy (2017)
- Just Jack (feat. Melissa Jo Heathcote) – Long Grass
- The Magic Gang – What Have You Got To Lose
- Videoclub – En Nuit (2019) (WC)
- Jealous Of The Birds – Something Holy
- Casey Lowry – Psycho
- IBE – Perfect Storm
- IBE – Table Of Fools (2019)
- Lilly Hiatt – Brightest Star
- Angèle – Balance Ton Quoi (2019)
- Izzy Bizu (feat. Chris Martin) – Someone That Loves You ’19 (2019)
- Saint Motel – Preach
- Videoclub – Enfance 80
- The Wannadies – Can’t Kill The Musikk
- Tout Va Bien – This Is How We Say Goodbye
- The Mountain Goats – Get Famous
- Izo FitzRoy – Red Line (WC)
- Temples – Paraphernalia
- Inhaler – My Honest Face (2019)
- Kristiane – Wish I Could Be Your Girl
- Miss Machine – Tout Autour
- Calby – Burnout (2019)
- Child Of The Parish – Relic Of The Past
- Zola – Crystal Floors (2019)
- Raffaella – Ballerina (2019)
- Gin Wigmore – HBIC
- Calby – The Everyday Bit (2019)
- Elsa Birgitta Bekman – All ‘bout Love
- Just – Dark Days
- Pixey – Free To Live In Colour
- boy pablo – 50 Souls And A Discobowl (2019) (WC)
- Merci, Mercy – Fucked Myself Up
- Royal & The Serpent – MMXX
- The Vices – In And Out
- The Radar Station – Subtle Science [2020 Version]
- Charles – Far Gone
- Semisonic – Basement Tapes
- Parov Stelar feat. Muddy Waters – Soul Fever Blues (2019)
- The Black Keys – Shine A Little Light (2019)
- Papooz – Theatrical State Of Mind (2019)
- Jaguar Jonze – Kill Me With Your Love (2019)
- Esteban – Suburban Paradise
- Pet Shop Boys – Monkey Business
- Sitting On Stacy – Chest Hair (2019)
- Grace Farriss – All The People (WC)
- Mélodie Lauret – À Quoi Tu Penses Quand Tu M’adores ?
- AKA George – Bad For You
- Joel Stoker (The Rifles) – Stuck Inside
- Ethel – Rubikscube (2019)
- The Big Moon – Barcelona
- Inge van Calkar – Spinning Around
- Lux Lyall – Mad With The Moon
- League Of Wolves – On The Run
- Charmless i – Superhero
- Maria Mena – Not OK
- Alex The Astronaut – Caught In The Middle
- Rhea – Under My Skin
- Helmut Fritz – Ça M’énerve [2020 Version]
- Don’t Bring Stacey – Waiting For It
- Nana Adjoa – She’s Stronger
- Stuck On Planet Earth – Ghosts On The Radio
- Sheppard – Kiss My Fat Ass (2019)
- The Man Who – Give Me Something (2019)
- Lead Pony – Soul Sucker (2019)
- a-ha feat. Ingrid Helene Håvik – The Sun Always Shines On TV (MTV Unplugged) (2019)
- Barry Moore – Hey Now (2019)
- Ellie Dixon – Space Out!
- Catherine Anne Davies & Bernard Butler – Sabotage (Looks So Easy)
- Gracie Abrams – Friend
- Roads To Roam – Firework
- Baxter Dury – I’m Not Your Dog
- Alfie Templeman – Things I Thought Were Mine
- Sunbather – Softly Spoken
- Eliza & The Delusionals – Swimming Pool
- Pyro – Your Love
- Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu
- Marble Waves – Caught In A Current
- Me & My Toothbrush – Funking Around
- Corine – Je Danse Le Mia (2019)
- Raye – Love Of Your Life
- Michelle David & The Gospel Sessions – Victory!
- Some Sprouts – At Full Capacity
- Papooz – Figs And Gorgonzola
- Fickle Friends – Pretty Great
(WC) ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard

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.
Carte Blanche Music Top 2020
Ahead of your favourites among this year’s Carte Blanche Music recommendations, which I’ll publish tomorrow, these are my personal choices from the songs that came out in 2020. This list holds only 100 tracks, but you can find all of my 994 recommendations in my container playlist Carte Blanche Music 2020.
As always, I love to share some statistics about the Carte Blanche Music Top 2020. These findings are further evidence of the fact that the music radio stations play for you is far from representative of the wealth of great new music out there. Thankfully, there are blogs like Carte Blanche Music that are independent and unbiased, and don’t want to please everybody at the same time. We’re here to surprise you with great new music, no matter what genre or gender, origin or orientation. Just a few statistics:
- Judging from this Top 100 alone (let alone the full container playlist), 2020 was a great year for pure pop music, young artists, ‘80s influences, independent releases, the Australian music scene, queer pop-rock and female vocalists
- A whopping 70% of the tracks in this year’s list feature female lead vocals (and I thought the 60% in the Carte Blanche Music Top 2019 was impressive already)
- Overall, rock ruled. 54% of the tracks in my year-end chart is guitar-based (just over last year’s tally)
- The list clearly shows there are more countries that produce great artists than Great-Britain and the United States alone. This year, more nationalities than ever are represented in my Top 100. You’ll also find artists from Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland
- As a result, although most lyrics are in English, you’ll also hear songs (partly) sung in French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Swedish
The Carte Blanche Music Top 2020 features 100 tracks, which are presented below in alphabetical order. You can listen to them all via the Spotify player. If you prefer another order, just use the shuffle button 😉.
Meanwhile, you can read my original recommendations through the links below.
- A Is For Arrows – Every Now And Then
- Abbie Ozard – True Romance (WC)
- Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu
- Aitana – 11 Razones
- Alex The Astronaut – I Think You’re Great (WC)
- Alice & Moi – T’aimerais Que Ce Soit Vrai
- Altered By Mom – Better On The Page
- Amy Allen – Difficult
- Archie X – Loud Boy (WC)
- Ava Max – Kings And Queens
- Awolnation feat. Alice Merton – The Best
- Badflower – 30
- Baxtr – Bloom (WC)
- Bée – Nothing Alike (WC)
- The Beths – Mars, The God Of War
- Betty Who – The One
- Blossoms – It’s Going To Be A Cold Winter
- Bloxx – Off My Mind
- Bloxx – 5000 Miles (WC)
- Calogero – La Rumeur
- Charles – Far Gone
- Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið – Think About Things
- Dagny – Coulda Woulda Shoulda (*)
- Don Diablo – Invincible
- Don’t Bring Stacey – Waiting For It
- Dopha – Anti Breakup Song
- Doves – Prisoners (WC)
- Dua Lipa – Physical (WC)
- Dua Lipa – Break My Heart
- Dua Lipa (feat. DaBaby) – Levitating [Single Version]
- Efecto Pasillo feat. Huecco – Funketón [2020 Version]
- Egoism – You You (WC)
- Ella Grace – Unfree
- Ellur – Alive
- The Flowers – You Don’t Say!
- Francesco Gabbani – Il Sudore Ci Appiccica
- Genes – Super Single
- Gin Wigmore – HBIC
- Grace Farriss – All The People (WC)
- Gracie Abrams – Friend
- Grand Corps Malade – Pas Essentiel (WC)
- Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (WC)
- Harper Bloom – Walk My Way
- Hedda Mae – Madness
- The Hold Steady – Family Farm
- Hollie Col – She Knows (WC)
- Holy Holy (feat. Queen P) – Port Rd (WC)
- Hope D – Second
- Hoshi feat. Corine – Larmes De Croco (WC)
- Icona Pop & Sofi Tukker – Spa
- Indochine x Christine & The Queens – 3Sex
- Izo FitzRoy – Red Line (WC)
- Jaclyn – Energy
- Jake Bugg – Rabbit Hole
- Joan – Want U Back
- Joel Culpepper – WAR (WC)
- Julie Bergan – Commando (WC)
- Kailee Morgue – This Is Why I’m Hot (*)
- Keleketla! – International Love Affair (WC)
- Killboy – That’s OK I’ll Just Fuck Myself
- King Princess – Pain
- Kristiane – Wish I Could Be Your Girl
- La Oreja De Van Gogh – Te Pareces Tanto A Mí
- Lauran Hibberd – Boy Bye
- Lime – Fever
- Lola Lennox – Back At Wrong
- London Grammar – Baby It’s You
- The Lottery Winners – An Open Letter To Creatives (WC)
- Lova – Black Converse
- Lova – One Day Left
- Lucas Hamming – Falling
- The Magic Gang – Make Time For Change (WC)
- May-a – Apricots
- Miss Li – Therapy
- Miss Machine – Tout Autour
- MisterWives – Rock Bottom (WC)
- Monowhales – BL/FF (Fake Friends) (WC)
- Ocean Grove – Dream
- ONR (feat. Nile Rodgers) – Kill TV (WC)
- Palace Winter (feat. Penny Police) – Richard (Says Yes) (WC)
- Pixey – Just Move (WC)
- Pyro – Your Love
- Raave Tapes – Habitual
- The Radar Station – Zanzara [2020 Version] (*)
- Raye – Love Of Your Life
- Red Rum Club – The Elevation
- Ren – I Drive Me Mad (WC)
- Rinse feat. Hatchie – Back Into Your Arms
- Rooue – What You Want (WC)
- Sebu with Eraserfase – The Worst That Could Happen To Us (WC)
- Semisonic – Basement Tapes
- Sidonie with Delaporte – Mi Vida Es La Música
- Slum Sociable (feat. Kye) – You’re In My Head
- Super-Hi x Neeka – Following The Sun
- T99 vs. Youngr – Anasthasia [Youngr Bootleg]
- Temples – Paraphernalia
- Texas & Wu-Tang Clan – Hi
- Town Of Cats – Lemons (WC)
- Veronica Fusaro – Beach
- Videoclub – Enfance 80
(WC) ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
(*) album track

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 (week 53)
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:
- Glades – Get In The Way (Wildcard this week)
- Grand Corps Malade – Pas Essentiel (Wildcard last week)
- Aaron Frazer – If I Got It (Your Love Brought It)
- Calogero – Vidéo
- Ella Grace – Unfree
- Pyro – Your Love
- Why Don’t We – Slow Down
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.

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.
Wildcard (week 52):
Glades – Get In The Way
Glades are vocalist Karina Savage and multi-instrumentalists/producers Joey Wenceslao and Cam Robertson. They met at high school in Sydney and officially formed the band in 2015. After collecting their early singles on the 2016 mini-album This Is What It’s Like, they released their first full-length To Love You in 2018.
The trio are currently preparing the release of their sophomore album Planetarium. It was originally slated to be put out last summer, but has been postponed with no release date set as of yet. In the meantime, the band keep giving us tracks ahead of it. Following Vertigo, Blonde and Crush, Get In The Way is the fourth single off the long-player.
Get In The Way is a driving, four-to-the-floor pop-rock song, destined to dust off the airwaves. If only radio stations had the guts to play it… Well, I’m not going to wait for that. Get In The Way by Glades is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. It’ll feature here prominently for a whole week!
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 (week 52)
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:
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: Clean Bandit (feat. Yasmin Green) vs. Crystal Waters, KT Tunstall, Pale Waves, 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.
Calogero – Vidéo
Calogero, a son of Italian parents, is one of the biggest French artists of the moment. His career started at the age of 15, when he formed the band Les Charts with his brother and a childhood friend. Calogero was the lead singer and songwriter of the trio.
By the end of the century, he started a solo career. He co-wrote songs with already popular artists like Zazie and Pascal Obispo, and released his solo debut. His sophomore self-titled album sold 1,4 million copies in France alone, a success he repeated with his third long-player 3. This album contained his largest international hit Face À La Mer, a duet with Passi.
Centre Ville is Calogero’s eighth studio album to date. The songs were written during the first lockdown. Vidéo is my favourite deep cut on the record. A trademark up-tempo Calogero song with a walking bassline, an ‘80s-inspired rhythm, punctuated by strings and a highly memorable chorus. Destined to become a hit, once released as a single!
Recommended as well:
La Rumeur
On Se Sait Par Coeur
1987
La Vraie Vie
Je Joue De La Musique
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.
Pyro – Your Love
In their home country the Netherlands, things look good for rock band Pyro. The tracks off their first EP Out Of The River received much airplay, and their second EP Come Back For You is ready for release. Once again, it was recorded with the best studio musicians, mixed by Ronald Prent (Rammstein, Simple Minds) en mastered by Ted Jensen (Green Day, Kings Of Leon). The 4-track opus will be out early in 2021. But first they put out Your Love as its second single.
It’s a euphoric track, full of Queen-like choruses, acknowledging that love is a kind of drug. The intro is played on a crappy guitar, which the band found in the recording studio’s kitchen. Combined with a vocal effect, the first seconds sound like a really old recording. But shortly after, all filters are lifted, leaving a very contemporary rock song, influenced by bands like Kings Of Leon and Foo Fighters. A beautiful acoustic version will follow soon.
Recommended as well:
Pyro – Come Back For You
Pyro – F.O.M.O.
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.
Why Don’t We – Slow Down
I may not be a huge boy band fan, but a good song is a good song. And 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins is a good song. Stating Why Don’t We sampled 1979 in their new single Slow Down doesn’t really do The Pumpkins justice. In fact, Jonah Marais, Corbyn Besson, Daniel Seavey, Jack Avery and Zach Herron used the whole instrumental version of the classic Mellon Collie track. They added some fatter drums and handclaps, and stripped off Billy Corgan’s vocals, but that’s basically it. Oh, and before I forget: the last vocal part of Slow Down also echoes Here’s Where The Story Ends by The Sundays. Not to mention the lyrical reference to Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Californication.
But hey, it’s 2020, and those are great songs to be inspired by. Hopefully, this Why Don’t We song will spark some more interest in these ‘90s icons, and then it’s all good.
In its own right, Slow Down is a smart pop song. It’s a lighthearted, smooth and catchy track about knowing when things are moving too fast in a relationship that continues to change its course. Slow Down is the follow-up to Fallin’ (Adrenaline) – which was released in seven versions – and Lotus Inn. All three songs will be on the band’s upcoming sophomore album The Good Times And The Bad Ones. The record is due out on 15 January 2021.
Since debuting in 2016, Why Don’t We has amassed over 3 billion global career streams. Slow Down is very likely to add tens of millions more.
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.
Ella Grace – Unfree
After graduating from the London School Of Musical Theatre, Ella Grace Denton went on to front rock band Hitchcock Blonde for five years. For the last 8 years, she helped hundreds of thousands of women to explore and express themselves. She did so both online and offline, via podcast series, retreats and courses. These practices are now expanding back into her music, which she sees as her own journey of personal and creative discovery.
Unfree is the 25-year-old singer’s new single. A delicate and enchanting song with beautiful melodies. Its message is even more beautiful though. Grace explains: “Unfree is a track about my experience of throwing out the rulebook of what it means to me to be a woman in this society and instead just following my own primal yearning for life and letting it lead me. (…) This song is for all who feel and follow a deep urge to do things ‘their way’. To all those that associate as women. To the women who are reclaiming their freedom now, to those who have paved the way for us and for all of the women who don’t yet have the opportunity to do so.”
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.
Aitana – 11 Razones
Aitana Ocaña Morales is a 21-year-old Spanish singer. In 2017, she first gained national recognition when she ended second in the Spanish television talent competition ‘Operación Triunfo’. Outside her home country, people may know her from featuring on a recent Tiësto remix of Katy Perry’s Resilient.
11 Razones (’11 reasons’) is Aitana’s second studio album. It takes her to a more pop-rock and power-pop ground with elements of punk music. The singer mentioned Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan and El Canto Del Loco as her main influences. The album’s title track is the new single.
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.