It’s been 14 years since singing sisters Alyson & Amanda Joy Michalka released an album. After a lengthy break of almost 10 years, they came back with new music in 2017. Their comeback was partly helped by TikTok. That platform caused an unexpected re-run for their 2007 global break-through hit Potential Breakup Song, 13 years later. This even led to the duo recording un updated version of the track. All of this helped them reach a new audience. Also, it created the perfect launchpad for the next stage in their career.

Still only 31 and 29 years old, Aly & AJ will put out their fourth studio album on 7 May. Its title: A Touch Of The Beat Gets You Up On Your Feet Gets You Out And Then Into The Sun. This title comes from the lyrics to their new single Don’t Need Nothing. It’s the album’s fifth single, following Slow Dancing, Listen!!!, Pretty Places, and Symptom Of Your Touch. Don’t Need Nothing is a triumphant, up-beat, four to the floor stomper that begs to be played live. It must be fun to hear the audience sing along to its lyrics, including the lengthy album title.

Aly & AJ said of their new long-player: “We weirdly held an unnatural confidence over the recording and writing process this year (even when things would start and stop given all of the Covid shutdowns). It was like we were meant to make this music regardless of the world falling into the abyss, because it was the record we were always born to make.”

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Aly & AJ – Good Love

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Werner Schlosser

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.

www.carteblanchemusic.nl

Born in Amsterdam, Mia Nicolaï grew up in a half Dutch, half Russian household. She just turned 25 and is about to conquer the world with her ‘attitude pop’. She says about her music, in a cynical way: “I had the pleasure to go through a bunch of heavy stuff which I now put into music. My songs always feel a bit like self-help books to me, as I like to re-write life scenarios into something with a solution, I guess.”

Mia only released three singles since she came to the scene last year. Yet, she already made a name for herself with her raw unpolished pop music. People Pleaser is her third release. Catchy and energetic, it’s a song of international class. It’s based around driving drums, an infectious – New Order-like – bass line and Mia’s distinctive voice.

Lyrically, People Pleaser is about (our journey towards) self discovery. As she points out: “It can be very difficult to be true to your inner values when all you do is please the people around you instead of your inner needs. I’ve always come across as a strong-minded person. But In reality, I’m capable of helping everyone BUT myself. At some point I felt so uncomfortable in my own skin that I couldn’t even breathe properly.”

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

Werner Schlosser

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.

www.carteblanchemusic.nl

Barenaked Ladies are a multi-platinum band that formed in 1988. Already very successful in their home country Canada, their single One Week became a worldwide hit 11 years later. Subsequent singles they released around the turn of the century did well abroad as well. Their latest (15^th) regular studio album, Fake Nudes, dates back to 2017.

Now, BNL are back with their first new music in four years. Flip is the first single to be released ahead of their upcoming new album Detour De Force. The recording of this single was pretty much of a tour de force in itself. The band started working on new music before the pandemic, but quarantine forced them out of the studio and into their respective homes.

Flip is a trademark BNL track; fresh and upbeat. But there is more beneath this jolly surface. Its lyrics provide us with a nuanced take on the human psyche, conflicts in our communities, and the many ‘flips’ that have occurred all over the world during this last year. It’s a song about trying to change your viewpoint.

Flip is about being open to other perspectives,” lead singer and guitarist Ed Robertson said in an interview with Consequence Of Sound. “We live in a time where people seem to just dig deeper into their own trenches, without any willingness to see another viewpoint, or even engage in discussion… It’s all yelling, and no listening. I like that saying, ‘We were given one mouth, and two ears, and we’re supposed to use them proportionately!’”

Follow Barenaked Ladies on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

Werner Schlosser

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.

www.carteblanchemusic.nl