July 24th, 2021
single track
Varley – One Two Three
I like my songs up-tempo here at Carte Blanche Music headquarters. Not often do I need to apply the tag ‘melancholic’ to tracks I recommend. But every now and then, a slower tune stands out. This is one of those…
Varley are a Berlin-based indie-pop trio, centred around the mesmerising vocals of Dublin-native Claire-Ann Varley. Her band mates, multi-instrumentalists Joschka Bender and Matthias Heising, are Germans. They cite artists like Bon Iver, Fleetwood Mac, The Cardigans and Phoebe Bridgers as their main influences. Put these in the Varley blender and a London Grammar-like sound comes out. Honest and vulnerable, with fragile vocals embedded in a soft instrumental backdrop.
The trio says about their new single: “We wrote One Two Three about the unachievable beauty standard we are surrounded by in today’s society, and how people’s lives online can seem so perfect, and how it becomes harder not to compare yourself or your life to everything you see online. It talks about the feeling of being stuck in a big machine that’s trying to change us, but also has the realization that if we apologize for being ourselves then we will be lost forever.”
I’m looking forward to the band’s debut album Smalltalk And DMCs, due out on 17 September!
Follow Varley 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
Lime Garden – Pulp
Lime Garden (formerly known as Lime) are four childhood friends. Jumping over genre boundaries, they create a sound that is uplifting yet laid-back. The Brighton-based girls already impressed me with their early releases, but new single Pulp is easily their catchiest so far.
I’d call it ‘creepy disco’, but vocalist Chloe Howard describes the track in more detail for Fader magazine… “The inspiration for Pulp came from a slightly unnerving dream of a spooky man cloaked in orange pulp, tip-toeing and dancing through the streets at night”, she said. “We built the track around this absurd idea, with our efforts based on trying to mix the sweet adrenaline of a dance-filled club night, with feelings of unease and danger. It’s dark, yet upbeat and wonky, with wobbling bass and drums designed to capture the undulating streets he walks on.”
Recommended as well:
Lime – Fever
Lime – Surf N Turf
Follow Lime Garden 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
Gang Of Youths – Unison
If you ever wondered how a mix of The Waterboys and The War On Drugs might sound, look no further. Gang Of Youths’ new single Unison is it.
The band was formed in Sydney, Australia in 2011. They quickly attracted a rabid fanbase with their expansive, widescreen take on indie-rock. After winning prestigious ARIA Awards in their home country, they started to conquer the rest of the world (which is a work in progress). In 2017, the band – consisting of Dave Le’aupepe (vocals, guitar), Max Dunn (bass), Jung Kim (guitar, keyboards), Donnie Borzestowski (drums) and Tom Hobden (keyboards, guitar, violin) – relocated to London.
Their new single Unison is a song Le’aupepe conceived in Samoa, his ancestral homeland. It contains samples of recordings made by David Fanshawe. He travelled to the Pacific Islands in the late 1970s and recorded one of the most extensive libraries of indigenous Pasifika music anywhere in the world. The same kind of field work Alan Lomax did ahead of World War 2. These samples bring a unique and wonderful atmosphere to the track. Unison may prove to be for indie-rock what acts like Deep Forest and Moby were to dance music in the ‘90s: ground-breaking.
Recommended as well:
Gang Of Youths – The Heart Is A Muscle
Follow Gang Of Youths 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 trackConnie Constance – Prim And Propa
Connie Constance – Prim And Propa
Constance Power is an English singer and songwriter whose output is impossible to pigeon-hole. This can be traced back to her youth. She studied ballet and musical theatre before concentrating on music. As a youngster, she absorbed a great variety of music, while as a teen she was mostly drawn to indie bands. Yet, as a woman of colour, she felt predestined to make commercial R&B. After this proved unfulfilling, she developed her own musical cocktail of contemporary indie-pop and soul-rooted alternative R&B with rocky elements. This earned her comparisons to artists such as Lily Allen, King Krule and Hiatus Kaiyote.
As Connie Constance, Power released an album, and three handfuls of singles and EPs since 2015. Prim And Propa is her driving new tune. It opens quietly, until the summer-y percussion kicks in. And then, out of the blue, she throws in a short intermezzo with banging drums and soaring guitars. In the second half, it’s this intermezzo that sets the tone, like a burst of punches in the face. An adventurous, energetic track!
Follow Connie Constance 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
The Academic – Not Your Summer
Craig Fitzgerald, Dean Gavin, Matthew and Stephen Murtagh are life-long friends from Ireland. Also, they are indie-pop band The Academic. Community Spirit is their new, 5-track EP, which marks the first time they produced their own music. Great job!
Opening song Not Your Summer is the quartet’s new single off it. The title says it all: with its feisty guitar chords it sounds like a sunny song, but the lyrics are rather melancholic. Although the track doesn’t deal with the pandemic, the situation undeniably put its stamp on it. Despite that, it’s just another one of their hook-heavy classic summer anthems.
Recommended as well:
Anything Could Happen
Fake ID
Follow The Academic 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
Troi Irons – She Loves Me Not
If you like K.Flay’s music as much as I do, you’re sure to like Troi Irons as well. This is a woman who knows what she wants. Most of all, she want to be in control of everything she does. It’s her who decides how you see her, but more important: she won’t let anyone else decide how she sees herself. In order to establish that, she’s a true DIY artist. She writes and produces her own songs and even shoots all of her photos.
Irons was named after the famed city of Troy in Turkey. Being the daughter of Eddie Irons (the drummer of funk-rock band Brick) and singer-songwriter Anne G., she grew up in a musical household. Apart from that, she’s interested in (and has a degree in) psychology. Irons isn’t afraid to acknowledge she’s autistic herself, and why should she?
After a few musical collaborations with the likes of Australian DJ Will Sparks, Finnish duo Tom & Hills, and Lupe Fiasco, she landed a record deal with Def Jam in 2016. However, looking for more creative freedom, she left the label after just one EP.
Fast Forward to 2021, She Loves Me Not is Troi Irons’ new single. A strong and overtly honest alt-rock track with ‘90s and ‘00s inspired guitars. Her distinctive voice ranges from passionate whispers to powerful notes. Confident, in her own special way, she sings: ‘I want me enough for the both of us’.
A few years ago, Troi said in an interview: “If you have real music, people will listen. It doesn’t matter if they know who you are or not.” You may not know Irons or her music (yet), but give it a chance. She, her songs and the stories behind them are worth it.
Follow Troi Irons 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
Hardwicke Circus – Walking On Broken Glass
If you like your pop/rock stomping and driving, you’ll surely want to check out upcoming British band Hardwicke Circus. They named themselves after the first roundabout you’ll hit when you enter their hometown Carlisle, by the way.
Hardwicke Circus consists of Jonny Foster (lead vocals, guitar), Tom Foster (drums, vocals), Ben Wilde (bass, vocals), Lewis Bewley-Taylor (keys), Andy Phillips (saxophone) and Zack McDade (guitars, vocals). To say their songs are road-tested would be an understatement. They did over 700 gigs so far, supporting the likes of Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Madness. They also played legendary festivals like Isle Of Wight, Glastonbury, Reading and Eurosonic, honing their craft.
Obviously, tracks on Spotify are available worldwide. But Walking On Broken Glass is their first single that’s not only released outside their home country, but properly promoted as well. You’re forgiven for thinking the first notes sound like a broken record of The Doobie Brothers’ Long Train Running. What follows however, is a Bruce Springsteen-like track with plenty piano and saxophone. With a little imagination, you can hear echoes of Dexy’s Midnight Runners as well. In other words: a brand-new song that already sounds like a classic.
Walking On Broken Glass features on the band’s debut album The Borderland, which is out now as well.
Follow Hardwicke Circus 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, wildcardWildcard (week 29):
Wildcard (week 29):
Baby Queen – You Shaped Hole
Following her debut EP Medicine, which Baby Queen only put out in November 2020, she has a new collection of songs lined up. This time it’ll be a mixtape, named The Yearbook, that will be unleashed on 3 September. With the release of her new single You Shaped Hole, exactly half of the ten tracks to appear on it are out in the open already.
If these tracks have one thing in common, it’s their consistently high quality. Bella Latham (the singer-songwriter’s real name) has the talent to pack her misery in ultra catchy and accessible pop tunes. The anti-hero the world needs right now.
Baby Queen says about You Shaped Hole: “I was super heartbroken when I wrote this song, and my ex was dating this beautiful supermodel after dumping me in Clissold Park in North East London. I went through a bit of a wild phase, as one does, and was doing everything I could possibly do to feel better. At the time I had this image in my mind of a hole inside my body that was shaped exactly like my ex, and it was as if I was trying to fill that hole in any way I could. But the things I was filling it with never reached the corners or made me feel any better, they just cluttered my life.”
You Shaped Hole by Baby Queen is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, so it’ll feature here prominently for a whole week!
Recommended as well:
These Drugs
Raw Thoughts
Follow Baby Queen on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | 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.
werner's weekly
Werner’s Weekly (week 29)
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:
- Baxtr – In Pop We Trust (Wildcard this week)
- beabadoobee – He Gets Me So High (Wildcard last week)
- Grand Corps Malade – Des Gens Beaux
- Madison Olds – If You Wanna
- Orla Gartland – You’re Not Special, Babe
- Palaye Royale – No Love In LA
- Self Esteem – Prioritise Pleasure
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: Chvrches, Manic Street Preachers, Shakira, 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
slowride – As Above/So Below
slowride blend alternative rock and indietronica. That sounds great on paper, but even better in reality. They couldn’t have come to our radar earlier than with their debut single I Feel Like You, and so they did. Now, over half a year later, their third single is another banger.
As Above/So Below is an anthemic, stadium ready track that blasts out of your speakers. This big sound comes courtesy of Awolnation drummer Isaac Carpenter, who produced the track. According to a press release, slowride’s new single ‘explores the conversation about life through an existential lens’. I think you’d better listen.
Recommended as well:
slowride – I Feel Like You
Follow slowride 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.
