Search results for ""mina okabe""
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Mina Okabe – Miss Those Days
Mina Okabe was born and raised in London to a Japanese mother and a Danish father. Having lived in big cities such as New York and Manila, she grew up with multiple different cultures, languages, sounds and voices. This background heavily inspired her song-writing. Where others keep their diary under lock and key, 21-year-old Mina is an open book. Her lyrics give an honest look inside the head and thoughts of a young woman.
Now Copenhagen-based, she writes blissful, dreamy pop songs that shimmer of optimism, which she delivers with a soft voice. Her just-released debut album Better Days holds ten fine examples. The fact that half of these have been released as singles over the last year, proves the strength of this bunch of songs. And there’s more where this came from.
Miss Those Days is Mina’s new single. “It’s about friendship – about a close friend of mine. We used to be together all the time but one day she had to move far away. Even though we promised to stay in touch, everything we had just faded out and disappeared. Miss Those Days is about everything you take for granted and the wonder of sudden change”, Mina Okabe says.
Recommended as well:
Mina Okabe – Walk Away
Follow Mina Okabe on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
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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.
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 21):
Wildcard (week 21):
Ericka Jane, Dopha & bbybites – Come Sit With Us
Denmark has always been a great incubator for new pop talents. The last few years alone, the country produced hot new artists like Drew Sycamore, RoseeLu, Mina Okabe, Eyjaa and Dopha. All females, as you might have noticed. Despite that, Denmark doesn’t have a real ‘girl crew’ atmosphere, according to singer Ericka Jane. In a press release, she claims Danish women in pop have often supported each other, but this seldomly resulted in musical collaborations.
In that respect, Come Sit With Us is a break-through. It’s not only an ode to female artists and sister love by three of Denmark’s most promising young singers, it’s also an invitation to others to spread these good vibes. The song title is a response to this scene from teen movie ‘Mean Girls’, where Regina is told: ‘You can’t sit with us’. Instead, Ericka Jane, Dopha and bbybites invite everyone to come and sit at their table.
Come Sit With Us is an incredibly catchy tune with euphoric synth strings, memorable vocal melodies and multiple ways to say ‘okay?!’.
This week, Come Sit With Us by Ericka Jane, Dopha & bbybites is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. That means it’ll be featured prominently at the top of the blog for a whole week. Okay?!
Follow Ericka Jane on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
Follow Dopha on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
Follow bbybites on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2023 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
chart, year-end chart
Your ‘All-Time’ Favourites (2017-2022)
The last six years, starting in 2017, I posted 10 musical recommendations per week on this blog. A total of well over 3.000 tracks, mostly by upcoming – often female (fronted) – artists from all over the world. As I explained yesterday, Carte Blanche Music is entering a new era. One in which I’ll focus my efforts on my constantly updated Spotify playlist.
For sure, that doesn’t mean the blog is closing down. It’ll continue to be the home of my ‘best of’ collection (Werner’s Weekly) on Monday mornings (CET) and my favourite new track (the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard), every Wednesday morning. Also, I’ll post the latest additions to my playlist on Saturdays. For updates, follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No better way to round up the last six years than by publishing the Your ‘All-Time’ Favourites, a chart compiling the 500 most popular (as in best-read) Carte Blanche Music recommendations from 2017 to 2022. You’ll find the Top 25 below, but click through for the full list. My original recommendations are behind the links. If you’re an artist, don’t be shy and search (Ctrl+F) to find out if you made the list. You might be surprised…
Enjoy and thanks for joining the ride so far. Follow the Carte Blanche Music playlist (click ‘♥’ in Spotify) for many more recommendations to come!
Your ‘All-Time’ Favourites (2017-2022)
- Videoclub – Roi
- Wildcard (week 7): Drew Sycamore – 45 Fahrenheit Girl
- Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu
- Wildcard (week 13): Placebo – The Prodigal
- Super db – Wait For Me
- Wildcard (week 12): Shanguy – Toukassé
- Japanese Breakfast – Paprika
- Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
- IBE – Table Of Fools
- Angèle – La Loi De Murphy
- Wildcard (week 22): Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda
- Rick Astley – Every One Of Us
- Friedberg – Go Wild
- Wildcard (week 26): Videoclub – En Nuit
- Agnes – Here Comes The Night
- a-ha feat. Ingrid Helene Håvik – The Sun Always Shines On TV (MTV Unplugged)
- Angèle – Libre
- Temples – Paraphernalia
- Lola Le Lann – Portofino
- Pixey – Free To Live In Colour
- Eliza & The Delusionals – Just Exist
- Videoclub – Enfance 80
- Izzy Bizu (feat. Chris Martin) – Someone That Loves You ’19
- Mina Okabe – Miss Those Days
- Just – Walk Slow Smile More Read More →
chart, year-end chart
Your Favourites (2021)
My container playlist Carte Blanche Music 2021 doesn’t only include all of the 998 songs I recommended last year. It also holds the 100 best tracks in my opinion, the Carte Blanche Music Top 2021, which I published last week. But that’s only my selection. Isn’t it more interesting to see which of my recommendations you read the most? In other words: which of them were Your Favourites in 2021?
Apparently, the Carte Blanche Music blog has a strong archive function. A quarter of the Top 100 below consists of blog posts from earlier years, which you find via search engines. ‘Google is your friend’, as they say… Also, I think it’s wonderful to see young and upcoming artists like Angèle, Aili x Transistorcake, Mina Okabe, Eyjaa and Videoclub having more than one track amongst your favourites. These are acts to keep an extra keen eye on!
Thank you for being such loyal visitors of Carte Blanche Music. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and you won’t miss a single recommendation. You’ll find all of these brand-new songs and more in my daily updated Spotify playlist.
And now, enjoy last year’s greatest chart of all: Your Favourites 2021!
- Drew Sycamore – 45 Fahrenheit Girl (WC)
- Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu (2020)
- Super db – Wait For Me
- Japanese Breakfast – Paprika
- Just – Walk Slow Smile More
- The Blue Stones – One By One
- Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies (2020)
- Mina Okabe – Miss Those Days
- Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (2020) (WC)
- Agnes – Here Comes The Night
- Pixey – Free To Live In Colour (2020)
- Laura Mvula – Got Me
- Angèle – La Loi De Murphy (2017)
- Temples – Paraphernalia (2020)
- Who – Hey! Get Out The Way (WC)
- Julietta – Not Today
- Lola Le Lann – Portofino (2020)
- a-ha feat. Ingrid Helene Håvik – The Sun Always Shines On TV (MTV Unplugged) (2019)
- Eyjaa – Don’t Forget About Me
- Indochine x Christine & The Queens – 3Sex (2020)
- Me & My Toothbrush – Funking Around (2020)
- Jealous Of The Birds – Something Holy (2020)
- Saint Motel – Preach (2020)
- Izo FitzRoy – Red Line (2020) (WC)
- Videoclub – Enfance 80 (2020)
- Therapie Taxi – Eté 90
- Christopher – Fall So Hard
- Isaac Dunbar – Fan Behavior
- Mina Okabe – Walk Away
- Alfie Templeman – Things I Thought Were Mine (2020)
- Danilo – Bringing It Back
- Negramaro – Ora Ti Canto Il Mare
- Videoclub – En Nuit (2019) (WC)
- Good Health Good Wealth – Guinness
- Ivan & The Parazol – Mást Vártam
- Placebo – Beautiful James
- Super-Hi x Neeka – Following The Sun
- Trunky Juno – Daddy’s Gone For Cigarettes
- Shanguy – Toukassé (2019) (WC)
- Del Amitri – Close Your Eyes And Think Of England
- Raffaella – Ballerina (2019)
- Ali Barter – You Get In My Way
- The Roop – Discoteque
- Izzy Bizu (feat. Chris Martin) – Someone That Loves You ’19 (2019)
- Fear Of Tigers – Tiger Blood
- Grand Corps Malade – Pas Essentiel (WC)
- Olivia – Can’t Break A Broken Heart
- The Bamboos – Ride On Time
- Angèle – Balance Ton Quoi (2019)
- The Vices – In And Out (2020)
- The Academic – Not Your Summer
- Gotts Street Park feat. Flikka – Favourite Kind Of Girl (2020)
- Aili x Transistorcake – Pari Pari
- Mélodie Lauret – À Quoi Tu Penses Quand Tu M’adores ? (2020)
- Eyjaa – The Wrecking Crew
- Dubstar – Tectonic Plates
- Tom Jones – Talking Reality Television Blues (WC)
- AKA George – Manic Machine
- You Am I – The Waterboy
- Grand Corps Malade – Des Gens Beaux
- The Vices – Looking For Faces
- Kuzko – My Mama Says
- Alessia Cara & The Warning – Enter Sandman
- L U – Liquid Gold
- Ruby Waters – Blow
- IBE – Table Of Fools (2019)
- Banji – Listen
- Moby feat. Gregory Porter & Amythyst Kiah – Natural Blues [Reprise Version]
- Rori – The Same Way
- Gracie Abrams – Friend
- Said The Whale – Honey Lungs
- Clara Luciani – Respire Encore (WC)
- Papooz – Theatrical State Of Mind (2019)
- Lou Hayter – Time Out Of Mind
- Mia Nicolai – People Pleaser
- Why Don’t We – Slow Down
- Miss Machine – Regarder Les Choses
- Sitting On Stacy – Chest Hair
- Devon – Warning Signs
- Videoclub – Roi
- Kristiane – Wish I Could Be Your Girl (2020)
- Laura Mac – Garage Full Of Dreams (WC)
- Dopha – The Game (2020)
- Maty Noyes – New Friends
- Bugs – Old Youth Feeling
- Kailee Morgue – This Is Why I’m Hot
- Calby – Burnout (2019)
- Dry Cleaning – Scratchcard Lanyard
- Our Lady Peace (feat. Pussy Riot) – Stop Making Stupid People Famous
- Eelke – Too Much Too Soon
- Troi Irons – She Loves Me Not
- Niko Rubio – Bed
- Aly & AJ – Don’t Need Nothing
- Luz – Counting Houses
- Son Mieux – 1992
- Valeras – Rita
- Amen Mustang – (The Shit You Say) When You’re High
- Angèle – Libre (*)
- Milo – What’s The Matter
- The Hisunz – CNTRDCTNS
(WC) ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
(*) album track
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Your favourites (October 2021)
Below, you can find all 10 of your favourites in the month of October; 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!
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Your favourites (September 2021)
Below, you can find all 10 of your favourites in the month of September; 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!
- Mina Okabe – Miss Those Days
- Dubstar – Tectonic Plates
- Placebo – Beautiful James
- Alessia Cara & The Warning – Enter Sandman
- Drew Sycamore – 45 Fahrenheit Girl (WC)
- Japanese Breakfast – Paprika
- Negramaro – Ora Ti Canto Il Mare
- Just – Walk Slow Smile More
- The Blue Stones – One By One
- Mina Okabe – Walk Away
(WC) ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
werner's weekly
Werner’s Weekly (week 36)
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:
- Self Esteem – How Can I Help You (Wildcard this week)
- Caroline & Claude – Stir The Pot (Wildcard last week)
- Almost Monday – Cool Enough
- Charlie Collins – Just My Luck
- Evie Irie – Bleed
- Mina Okabe – Miss Those Days
- siné – 2Good2U
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: Charli XCX, Florrie, Pixey, and more.
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Your favourites (August 2021)
Below, you can find all 10 of your favourites in the month of August; 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!
- Laura Mvula – Got Me
- Japanese Breakfast – Paprika
- Super db – Wait For Me
- Drew Sycamore – 45 Fahrenheit Girl (WC)
- The Blue Stones – One By One
- Who – Hey! Get Out The Way (WC)
- Just – Walk Slow Smile More
- Troi Irons – She Loves Me Not
- Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu
- Mina Okabe – Miss Those Days
(WC) ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
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siné – 2Good2U
If you’re a regular follower of Carte Blanche Music, you know Denmark bursts with musical talents. Copenhagen, especially, is fertile ground in this respect. Just like recent recommendations RoseeLu, Mina Okabe, School Of X, mags and Dopha, newcomer siné is based there as well.
That hasn’t always been the case, by the way. At a very early age already, she left Denmark (including all worries, expectations and future plans) behind. She started to travel the world as a backpacker. However, upon return siné discovered nothing had changed, really. That may sound as a disillusion, but the experience was priceless. Playing street corners, bars and clubs, she made new friends around the globe. And equally important: she developed her own musical style, inspired by ‘90s R&B and hip hop, the legendary Motown-feel and carefree sunshine pop.
2Good2U, only siné’s second single, is a great example. It’s playful and full of funky chord changes, spacey horn sections and break beats. Throughout, it’s held together by her incredibly soulful voice.
Siné says about the song: “It was really meant to be the ultimate break-up song. But while I was going all Girl Power and feeling free, I was hit by the insecurity that always haunts you when you’re trying to leave someone for good. And so instead, I ended up feeling totally miserable about myself. 2Good2U is about the inner fight that comes with not being able to stand up for your ridiculous self when life needs to change. It’s a reminder that you are the one in your life who can make the chance to move forward from what might seem like a catch-22.”
Follow siné on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
