March 31st, 2021
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 13):
Wildcard (week 13):
RoseeLu – Playing Alone
RoseeLu has always done things her way and has always been a loner. In other words: the 19-year-old Danish newcomer is a girl with character. Rosa Frydensbjerg (her real name) grew up to the sound of her dad’s piano, and wrote her first melodies in kindergarten. Eventually, she decided to follow her own dream and ambition to become a full-time musician. She quit high-school, left home and moved to Copenhagen at the age of just 17.
Destined for big things, she already released three tracks in 2020. But with this new autobiographical single, Playing Alone, her break-through is inevitable. It’s a very confident track, which clashes grungy guitars with contemporary beats. The sound of the alternative ‘90s meets raw, modern R&B and widescreen pop.
RoseeLu explains: ”Even though it sounds cliché, I really hope to inspire anyone who listens to embrace their inner child and cherish it. Playing Alone is my appeal to those who thinks kids are wrong if they – like me – are not into commercial toys and football trading cards, but are totally fine contemplating with themselves in their own company – which is OK and super healthy.”
To me, Playing Alone is the best new single of this week, which makes it the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. This means, it’ll feature prominently at the top of the blog for a whole week!
Follow RoseeLu on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2021 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.
chart
Your favourites (March 2021)
Below, you can find all 10 of Your Favourites in the month of March; my recommendations that you read the most during that month. Great choices!
The links bring you directly to the original posts. Each of them features a player that allows you to listen to the track via the platform of your choice. Enjoy!
- Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu
- Drew Sycamore – 45 Fahrenheit Girl (WC)
- Good Health Good Wealth – Guinness
- Eyjaa – Don’t Forget About Me
- Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
- Just – Walk Slow Smile More
- Julietta – Not Today
- Jealous Of The Birds – Something Holy
- Trunky Juno – Daddy’s Gone For Cigarettes
- Rick Treffers – The Best Of Your Days
(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.
werner's weekly
Werner’s Weekly (week 13)
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:
- Telenova – Bones (Wildcard this week)
- Hawke – Pinch Me (Am I Dreaming?) (Wildcard last week)
- Amy Shark – Baby Steps
- Babygirl – Nevermind
- Gretta Ray – Bigger Than Me
- Noga Erez feat. Rousso – Story
- Trunky Juno – Daddy’s Gone For Cigarettes
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: Jungle, Matt Simons, Royal Blood, 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.
single track
Bloxx – Everything I’ve Ever Learned
The last ten months, Bloxx have become regular visitors at Carte Blanche Music. In my opinion, their first album Lie Out Loud is one of the best debuts of 2020. But the Uxbridge quartet haven’t sat still since its release. They’re back with brand-new music already.
Everything I’ve Ever Learned continues where Lie Out Loud left off, which is a good thing. Especially if you’re as fond of Bloxx’s infectious indie-rock sound as I am. Their new single was produced by Rich Turvey, who worked with Blossoms and Oscar Lang before.
Front woman Ophelia Booth says about the track: “The last two years for me have been very difficult, with health scares and anxiety hitting the roof. This song was really important in my journey to stop trying to understand everything, and to just accept the cards you’re dealt and make it work for you. It taught me to keep holding on, even when your grip is loose. (…) It’s basically a self help song, it’s for everyone that needs to hear it. ‘You should learn to hold on / It’s not the end of the world’.”
Recommended as well:
5000 Miles
Off My Mind
Thinking About Yourself
Lie Out Loud
Follow Bloxx on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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
Mina Okabe – Walk Away
Sometimes, all you need to cheer up is a – if only by the sound of it – carefree song. These locked down times are such an occasion, and here is your remedy!
Mina Okabe is a 20-year-old Danish/Japanese singer-songwriter. She was born and raised in London, New York, Manila and Copenhagen. Each of them great cities which, I imagine, could only lead to heaps of inspiration. Especially for someone like Mina who, as she states herself, writes all of her songs about personal experiences and feelings.
Walk Away is her new single. Since her October 2020 debut single I’m Done, it’s only her third release. A fresh and heart-warming song without pretentions, simple but effective, with Mina’s charming and gentle voice as its main weapon. By the way, it’s not as carefree a tune as it sounds. The track deals with the bittersweetness of love.
In Mina’s own words: “I wrote Walk Away about the feeling of not knowing if the guy that I was seeing was as interested in me as I was in him. I was asking myself, if I should walk away from what we had or keep giving him chances to prove me wrong.”
Follow Mina Okabe on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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
Teddy’s Hit – Comparing Materials
Teddy’s Hit are a trio from Amsterdam, with singing drummer Kick Kluiving as its front man. They started out building a live reputation, which led to them being signed on the label of fellow musician Tim Knol. They released their self-titled debut (mini) album in 2019, but now they have their first full-length out.
Painters is an adventurous album, which nicely grabs the band’s live energy. An ode to playing together and staying young forever, it’s a fresh and melodic record. In 11 catchy songs, Teddy’s Hit produce accessible ‘90s indie-pop/rock with postpunk injections. An album with attitude.
Comparing Materials is the band’s new single. A track full of cowbells and disco elements, that sounds as British as music can be. Talking about comparing: in places, it sounds a bit like a rocky version of Tommy Sparks’ She’s Got Me Dancin’.
Follow Teddy’s Hit on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
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
Jessy Yasmeen – Holy Water
Jessy Yasmeen is an emerging artist with both Dutch and South-American roots. Over the past years, she played over 200 shows in The Netherlands and Germany and won some important music awards. In 2020, under the wings of a new label, she released several singles and two EP’s. Her songs were playlisted by radio stations and curators all over the world.
Now, she’s ready for the next step. Ahead of her debut album Formation, due out in the Autumn, she’ll release another set of singles. According to a statement these will be ‘bigger, more poppy and personal’. And, for the first time, self-produced. Her new songs are meant to challenge listeners to be vulnerable, help conquer personal battles with underlying fear, and break those taboos.
Holy Water is the first, very promising example. This earworm is a cross between pop, soul and R&B. Sure to go down well with fans of Adele, Joss Stone and Alicia Keys.
Yasmeen says the track started as a song about her narcissistic ex. However, the meaning changed figuring out it was all about her not loving herself. She recalls: “I looked up to him. I adored him like a God. His words were like the testament to me and his will like the commandments. But if he was God and God was love then why was I not fulfilled? It was me that was feeding his ego afraid of losing him. Because I already gave up on me. But the day he left me was a blessing. That’s when my formation started, a purification of the soul.”
Follow Jessy Yasmeen on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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
Marketplace – Charlie
Marketplace are Joel O’Beirne (vocals/bass), Evie Rhodes (vocals/guitar), Jack Purcell (guitar), Matthew Short (synth) and Ross Dixon (drums). Only a year and a half ago, they released their debut single Evergreen. In fact, it was no more than a demo. Even better: for some band members it was the first time they picked up their instruments. After widespread acclaim, their sophomore track Hard 2 Love followed a few months later.
Apparently, they took the COVID-19 period off, and who can blame them? Now, the British 5-piece resurface with new single Charlie. As far as I’m concerned, third time’s the charm, for it’s their most catchy and confident track yet. It combines hand claps, a xylophone, fresh guitar melodies and instant sing-along lyrics into a Spring anthem. Vocally, O’Beirne’s somewhat indifferent way of singing is a great tandem with Rhodes’ angelic backings.
For fans of bands like Satellite Stories, Two Door Cinema Club and Hippo Campus.
Follow Marketplace on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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
Olivia – Can’t Break A Broken Heart
This one has been in the Carte Blanche Music Spotify playlist for some time now, but I thought I’d recommend it here it as well. For this is a delicious pop tune that deserves your attention.
In her home country Belgium, Olivia Trappeniers isn’t exactly unknown. She participated in ‘The Voice Of Flanders’ in 2016, and a year later, she won radio station MNM’s talent competition Rising Star. Since then, she released quite a few singles as OT, collecting tens of millions of streams. In 2019, she broke through alongside Regi and Jake Reese, with their collaborative single Kom Wat Dichterbij (‘come a little closer’). It made Olivia the youngest singer ever to spend 28 weeks at the top of the Belgium charts. Unsurprisingly, it went on to become the country’s single of the year 2019.
Trappeniers now continues her career as Olivia, and she does so very convincingly. Her new single is a well-produced, danceable pop song of international class. The message of Can’t Break A Broken Heart is meant to be a positive one. It encourages people to keep falling in love, even after a break-up.
Follow Olivia on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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 trackRick Treffers – The Best Of Your Days
Rick Treffers – The Best Of Your Days
Rick Treffers is a Dutch singer-songwriter, writer, producer and musician. He’s best known from his indie-pop project Mist, which gained notoriety among tastemakers in the Netherlands and abroad, especially Spain. He even relocated to Spain, where he worked with many local artists.
With Mist now defunct, Rick Treffers continues his career under his own name. Most of his songs are melancholic and moody, but he also writes and records more up-tempo, sunny tunes. Either way, they’re instantly recognizable.
After some years of musical silence, he’ll release not one but two brand-new albums this year. One in English and one in his native tongue. The one in Dutch, Levensdrift (‘zest for life’) will only come out in the fall, but Looking For A Place To Stay will be out 6 May already. Musically, it follows the direction of his former band Mist, which is a treat. Participating musicians on the album are Alberto Montero, Antonio José Iglesias and Lourdes Casany from Spain, as well as Dutch multi-instrumentalists Mischa Porte, Léon Klaasse, Ivar Vermeulen and Jeroen Luttikhuis. The latter two were part of Mist as well.
Treffers started a crowdfunding in order to design and print the postcards that come with Looking For A Place To Stay. It’ll also enable him to master and manufacture both cd’s. Click here to see details of the campaign with all of the bonuses it has to offer, and to support this wonderful artist.
To get you in the mood, Best Of Your Days is Rick Treffers’ new single. It’s an optimistic, radio-friendly pop song, perfectly timed to accompany the first rays of sunlight.
Recommended as well:
Mist feat. Alondra Bentley – Fade In Fade Out
Mist – Dark Side
Mist – Hey [Little Canyon Session]
Follow Rick Treffers on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | crowdfunding
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.
