February 20th, 2021
Eut – What Gives You The Kicks
Ever since Dutch band Eut released their (second) single Supplies, they attracted the attention of the music industry. It was immediately clear this wasn’t your average school band. With playful, energetic songs, packed with catchy hooks, they were one of the most exciting new acts of the Netherlands. This resulted in many bookings for concerts that helped them perfect their skills. Alternative radio stations were quick to jump on board as well. Their first album Fool For The Vibes was everything the critics had hoped for, and more.
Last week, they released their sophomore album Party Time. It’s all about lust, sex and loneliness; about dancing on an empty dance floor and when you finally fall flat on your face, it might be best to just stay down. The long-player was preceded by five singles, and What Gives You The Kicks is number six.
The track deals with taking a beating and untying yourself from a web of lies that you spun yourself. Another flawless pop song with an edge.
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For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Grrrl Gang – Honey, Baby
It doesn’t happen often that Indonesian bands come to the attention of western bloggers. Cultural differences are to blame, I suppose. Yet there are bands that effortlessly bridge the gap.
Take Yogyakarta-based Grrrl Gang for instance, a trio consisting of Angeeta Sentana, Edo Alventa and Akbar Rumandung. They bring bands like Veronica Falls and Alvvays to mind. And listening to their new single, I immediately thought of Judy Staring At The Sun by Catherine Wheel. Honey, Baby – Grrrl Gang’s first for London-based label Damnably – is definitely their most mature sounding track to date. It’s a self-written and produced indie-pop/rock track.
The band was scheduled to play showcase festival SXSW last year, until a certain pandemic got in the way. The music video to Honey, Baby imagines what would have been if the band had been able to tour the United States in 2020. It includes dreamed up scenarios including meeting a fan at the airport, roaming through idyllic ‘Texan’ landscapes, and performing at their scheduled gig at South By Southwest in a dive bar.
Late last month it was announced that Grrrl Gang will perform at the SXSW virtual festival in March.
Follow Grrrl Gang on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Polish Club – Stop For A Minute
Although Sydney duo Polish Club faced the same setbacks in 2020 as every other band on the planet, they still managed to play eight sold-out shows. They also scored an APRA Award nomination for Most Performed Rock Work.
Now, they’re back with their first single of 2021 and it’s a cracker. Stop For A Minute is an incredibly infectious upbeat pop song with a groove to die for. But don’t let this bright soundtrack fool you. Lyrically, the song addresses a heavier theme. It takes aim at the abuse of power within the music industry, that artists and executives got away with in the past. ‘All your heroes end up being fucking monsters’, they sing in the song’s chorus.
“At its core, this song is me trying to deal with our inconsistent acknowledgement of the cavalcade of horrible things done by countless artists in a position of power,” says David Novak, the band’s lead vocalist and guitarist. “There is a knowledge that nothing ever really comes of these things until the relevance of these artists wane. A good hit is enough for us to all collectively decide it’s not worth dealing with right now, or sometimes ever.”
Just like the song itself, the video has two faces as well. The duo juxtapose the heavier content with some fun, green-screen heavy scenes.
Recommended as well:
Polish Club – Goddamn!
Follow Polish Club on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Noémie Wolfs – Lonely Boy’s Paradise
Some people may still refer to Noémie Wolfs as ‘a former singer of Hooverphonic’, but that’s ancient history by now. Exactly one year ago, the Belgian singer released her second solo album Lonely Boy’s Paradise. In celebration of this anniversary, the record’s stand-out track is released as its fifth single.
Lonely Boy’s Paradise is the long-player’s monumental title track. It opens in a mysterious, somewhat sinister fashion with dark drums and dramatic strings. The further the song enrolls, the more prominent the strings. After a tribal-like mid-section, they even take over completely for a full dramatic effect. Fans of Lana Del Rey will love this.
The video has been a year in the making, as COVID-19 kept messing up the recording schedule. However, the resulting short movie, where Wolfs turns up blonde, is as wonderful as the song itself.
Recommended as well:
Noémie Wolfs – Let Me Down
Follow Noémie Wolfs on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Upsahl – Stop!
Phoenix singer-songwriter Taylor Upsahl comes from a musical family. Her grandmother and grandfather were music teachers, and her father played guitar in several pop-punk and alt-rock bands. She herself started playing the piano and guitar at the age of five. In sixth grade, Upsahl began writing songs and self-released her first, more acoustic-minded music at 14. Three years later, she graduated from Arizona School For The Arts.
Her 2019 single Drugs has since been used in nearly 2.000.000 TikTok videos, making her something of a phenomenon on the platform. That same year, the artist gained many new fans touring with PVRIS, Joywave, BROODS and Young The Giant, and playing the Lollapalooza festival. 2020 however topped all of this. She co-wrote Good In Bed for Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia album, as well as tracks for Anne-Marie and Madison Beer.
Stop! is Upsahl’s first single of 2021. With an overall Billie Eilish-like coolness, it deals with the overwhelming, even frightening feeling of falling for someone, and what it does to you. ’Oh it feels like, my hearts gonna beat so fast, gonna beat so fast, gonna beat so fast that it might stop’. In her own words: “I’m unapologetic about being a sexual person, so here’s a song about being horny and the thirst for another person.”
I’m sure nothing can stop this track from becoming the banger it potentially is.
Follow Upsahl on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Bowe (feat. Sandra St. Victor) – Vintage
Dutch singer Bowe (real name: Boudewijn de Jong) released his first album Moving Through The Night back in 2009. Since then, he released quite some tracks. Near the end of the 2010s, he switched to singing in his mother’s tongue. His break-through however, came in 2020 with a re-recorded version of Tired Of Giving Good Things Up. Originally from his second album Nomansland (2013), the song was picked up by every major Dutch radio station.
With his new tune, Bowe hopes to be able to build upon his earlier success. In my ears, Vintage is an old-school radio song indeed. It’s upbeat, with an infectious bass line throughout. The vocal melody is very catchy as well, with backings provided by none other than Sandra St. Victor. She’s probably best known from her time in funk band The Family Stand, who scored hits with Ghetto Heaven and Plantation Radio in the early 1990s.
Follow Bowe on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Fear Of Tigers – Tiger Blood
Do I look at the wrong places, or is this the most overlooked song of the last week? Criminally overlooked, I might add. Tiger Blood by Fear Of Tigers is a banger, and apparently, I’m the first to tell you. So please, take my word for it. Or even better: listen on your preferred platform via the widget below, and listen for yourself.
Don’t let the 20-second intro, which sounds like a jingle company demo, fool you. Just wait for the synths to kick in, immediately followed by a vocal sample that spells e-a-r-w-o-r-m. No mention of its origin, alas. All and all, Tiger Blood is one of those irresistible ‘80s-influenced pop-dance tracks. Great for working out in the gym (I suppose). For reference, think Call On Me by Eric Prydz.
Fear Of Tigers has been the artist name of Benjamin Berry for over 10 years now. Besides that, he collaborated with people like Ellie Goulding, Max Richter, Leann Rimes and Kylie Minogue. Tiger Blood is the second single from his forthcoming same-titled album, which will be out later in the year.
Follow Fear Of Tigers on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Wildcard (week 7):
Drew Sycamore – 45 Fahrenheit Girl
Drew Sycamore’s is a Danish singer-songwriter with Welsh roots. Her voice lies somewhere between Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa. Musically, she fishes in the same pond as well. Expect tight, ‘90s inspired pop music with a disco twist.
45 Fahrenheit Girl (which is only 7 degrees Celsius, by the way) is a very strong pop song that’s only 2,5 minutes long. It’s got big shoes to fill, for her latest two singles Take It Back and I Wanna Be Dancing both reached the summit of the Danish airplay charts. Luckily, it totally lives up to the expectations.
The song has a classic theme, but with a ‘different’ angle. 45 Fahrenheit Girl describes a relationship between a woman and a vampire. The vampire is dead and the woman is alive, which presents her with a huge dilemma; should she have the vampire kill her so that they can live together forever?
This week, 45 Fahrenheit Girl by Drew Sycamore is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard.
Follow Drew Sycamore on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2021 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Werner’s Weekly (week 7)
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:
- Almost Monday – Live Forever (Wildcard this week)
- The Reytons – Jealous Type (Wildcard last week)
- Allie X – Glam! [2021 Version]
- Ferraro – Sugar Rush [2021 Remix]
- Pixey – Electric Dream
- Rebecca Black – Girlfriend
- The Unknown Project – Swimmer
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: Calogero, Dua Lipa, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, Pale Waves, and more.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Fletcher Gull – Heaven Is Around The Corner
Comparing rising Aussie artist Fletcher Gull with The Beatles may be early days. But listen to his new single, and you’ll understand what I mean to say…
Heaven Is Around The Corner sounds like multiple songs combined. The first half is a dreamy, David Bowie-esque part. Around the 2 minute mark however, the dream comes to an end abruptly, as if the studio had a melt-down during the recording. What follows, is a richer – and totally different – song. A happy piano, warm bass and horns are added with a euphoric effect.
One can only hope that in 2021 people have the patience to wait for a song to evolve like this. Even if they do, this track may need a few listens. Once the penny has dropped, you’ll be thankful you did. This is a gem.
Recommended as well:
Fletcher Gull – City Is Busy
Fletcher Gull – Deciduo [2020 Version]
Follow Fletcher Gull on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
