Search results for "angèle"
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 16):
Wildcard (week 16):
Angèle – Libre
Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Angèle’s debut album Brol was great and I wrote about many of its singles. It turned her into a pop princess, and her sophomore long-player Nonante-cinq will only enhance that status. I’m curious what would happen if she’d switch to lyrics in English…
The album’s second track is my favourite song on it. Libre deals with emancipation in the broadest sense. This includes claiming her position and taking revenge of the ones who hurt her. Musically, it’s a seemingly carefree and danceable tune, with a prominent bass line that resembles Tame Impala’s The Less I Know The Better.
As proposed last December, it’s Angèle’s new single! Even better: Libre is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, so it’ll feature prominently at the top of this blog for a whole week!
Recommended as well:
Balance Ton Quoi
Tout Oublier (feat. Roméo Elvis)
Je Veux Tes Yeux
La Loi De Murphy
Follow Angèle on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2022 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
album trackAngèle – Libre
Angèle – Libre
Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Angèle’s debut album Brol was great and I wrote about many of its singles. It turned her into a pop princess, and her new album will only enhance that status. I’m curious what would happen if she’d switch to lyrics in English…
‘Nonante-cinq’ is Walloon for ‘95’, the year of birth of the Belgian singer and songwriter. She turned 26 on 2 December, a week before her sophomore album Nonante-Cinq was scheduled to appear. However, as a last-minute present to her fans, she decided to release the record digitally on her birthday. This obviously caused some stress at her label, for the physical versions (CD and LP) weren’t ready yet. The problem was solved within a week though, even before the intended release date.
This second record is more introspective than its predecessor. It sounds like a public diary, in which she tells about the most important emotions she had in the past three years: sadness, doubt and fear. However, as we’ve come to expect, she packs these themes in colourful songs that appear light-hearted. For non-French-speaking people, anyway.
The long-player’s second track is my favourite song on it. Libre deals with emancipation in the broadest sense. This includes claiming her position and taking revenge of the ones who hurt her. Musically, it’s a seemingly carefree and danceable tune, with a prominent bass line that resembles Tame Impala’s The Less I Know The Better. This would be a great single!
Recommended as well:
Balance Ton Quoi
Tout Oublier (feat. Roméo Elvis)
Je Veux Tes Yeux
La Loi De Murphy
Follow Angèle on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
single trackAngèle – Balance Ton Quoi
Angèle – Balance Ton Quoi
The Belgian music scene is rich and diverse. When people talk about it, they often point at one of the great guitar bands, but there is so much more to it than that. I’ve said it before, before and before, and I’ll say it again: for me, one of the best things to come out of Belgium in recent years is Angèle.
Her music is appealing, her lyrics witty and her video’s utterly funny and colourful. Don’t let any of this distract you from the fact that this girl has something to say. Her new single Balance Ton Quoi tackles the serious subject of sexism. Even though the video is full of humour, her point certainly comes across. A great tune with an even better message!
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
border breaker, single trackAngèle feat. Roméo Elvis – Tout Oublier
Angèle feat. Roméo Elvis – Tout Oublier
Angèle Van Laeken is one of the most successful young artists to have come out of Belgium the past year. Understandably, for there’s not much not to like about her. She’s cute, sturdy, funny and above all: very talented. Her songs are smart and poppy; contemporary but rooted in tradition at the same time. This provides her tunes with a sense of timelessness. On top of that, her videos are colourful and full of humour.
As a result of this whole package, all of her singles to date (La Loi De Murphy, Je Veux Tes Yeux, La Thune and Jalousie) have become hits in the European Border Breakers Chart. Apart from Belgium, especially France is fond of her songs.
22-year-old Angèle is from a musical family: her father Marka was in the band Allez Allez and her brother Roméo Elvis is a popular Belgian rap star. Her new single Tout Oublier brings brother and sister together. Could this be her (and his) break-through beyond the French-speaking world? We’ll have to see, but for music lovers who feel adventurous, this is a great song to discover.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
border breaker, single trackAngèle – Je Veux Tes Yeux
Angèle – Je Veux Tes Yeux
Last year, Angèle Van Laeken entered the pop arena with her debut single La Loi De Murphy. A fun track that crossed over to France, providing the Belgian singer-songwriter with her first hit in the European Border Breakers Chart.
New single Je Veux Tes Yeux slows things down a bit, and ticks all the right boxes for it to enter classic ‘chanson’ territory. Somehow, it also makes me think of the utterly beautiful Coward by Yael Naim.
Je Veux Tes Yeux once again crosses to France (for starters), making it Angèle’s biggest EBBChart hit to date, entering in 37th place this week. The clip passed the 1 million mark on YouTube within 10 days, so you’d better keep a keen eye on this one…
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
border breaker, single trackAngèle – La Loi De Murphy
Angèle – La Loi De Murphy
If you ever wondered why a slice of bread is always falling with the buttered side face-down: that’s Murphy’s Law. In general terms, it says: ‘If anything can go wrong, it will’. Murphy’s Law is a law about the opposite of coincidence. In fact, it’s about the certainty that mother nature is a bitch 😉 . The best you can do is laugh about it…
That said, Murphy’s Law was also the inspiration for a great new track. La Loi De Murphy is the debut single of 21-year-old Belgian singer Angèle Van Laeken. She’s from a musical family: her father Marka was in the band Allez Allez and her brother Roméo Elvis is a Belgian rap star. Listening to her debut single, I wouldn’t be surprised is Angèle is a fan of Christine & The Queens.
La Loi De Murphy is already an airplay hit in Belgium, and is now crossing over to France, causing the song to enter in this week’s European Border Breakers Chart. Hopefully more countries will follow, knowing that – despite its French title – most of the lyrics are in English…
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 16):
Wildcard (week 16):
Jessie Ware – Begin Again
Jessie Ware is about to release her fifth album. That! Feels Good! (which is also the title of the record, that comes out on 28 April). The long-player was preceded by two singles already, Free Yourself and Pearls. Now, there’s track #3, and it really brings out the sun. The song, Begin Again, has a bossa nova vibe, inspired by the British singer’s time spent in South America. In places, it reminds me of Stillness In Time by Jamiroquai, which can only be a good thing.
“Begin Again is where this album started”, Ware explained. “On a miserable afternoon during lockdown, (producer) James Ford zoomed (co-writers) Shungudzo and Danny Parker in Los Angeles. They were just waking up, it was already dark in London. Frustrated yet completely focused, we set about writing in a new – and unnatural – way over the internet.”
She continues: “Dreaming of human touch, escapes to Brazil, beach bodies, holiday romances, all of it! I absolutely adore this song and I’m so excited for you to hear it, to hear the beautiful production by James and horns by Kokoroko, it’s the song that I knew I wanted to make as soon as I finished (2021 single) Remember Where You Are.”
Begin Again by Jessie Ware is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. That means it’ll be featured prominently at the top of the blog for a whole week.
Follow Jessie Ware on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2023 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 5): Nell Mescal – Homesick
Wildcard (week 5): Nell Mescal – Homesick
Just 19 years old, Nell Mescal makes an impressive entrance into the entertainment world. Homesick is only her second official release, but a very promising one.
Hailing from Maynooth in Kildare, Ireland, the young emerging singer-songwriter has been singing all her life and has been performing in groups and choirs for as long as she can remember. During the pandemic, she decided to make music her career. She moved to North London, where she’s surrounded by other young creatives and kindred spirits.
Mescal wrote her charming new single with Jamie N Commons and Cameron Montgomery whilst in Los Angeles. However, it was inspired by her move from the cosy country side to the big city. She explains: “It’s about when I first moved to London from Ireland and really missed home, but also being determined to stick it out so it doesn’t look like I failed at moving away. The lyrics give a bit of insight to how hard it is to move away at a young age and the loneliness that comes with it, while the music is upbeat and hopeful to show that you can do hard things and that you can make a home wherever you go if you give it time.”
Homesick by Nell Mescal is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. That means it’ll be featured prominently at the top of the blog for a whole week.
Follow Nell Mescal on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | 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 →
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 52):
Wildcard (week 52):
Karin Simonian – Fade Out
Karin Simonian is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, who appears to have emerged onto the music scene out of nowhere. For Carte Blanche Music followers however, her last name may sound familiar. This is the catch: she’s the sister of Sebu Simonian, of Capital Cities fame. He’s also the one who co-produced her debut album 11 Degrees Of Love.
The 11 tracks on this long-player have been put out one by one throughout last year. The album release coincided with the birth of this new single. Fade Out is another strong and beautiful piano-led pop song with driving drums. Also, it has a fitting title, considering this is the last ‘old-style’ Carte Blanche Music post.
Fade Out by Karin Simonian is the last Carte Blanche Music Wildcard of 2022. It’ll feature prominently at the top of the blog for a whole week, ready for you to discover.
Recommended as well:
Beat Of My Heart
Follow Karin Simonian on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2022 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards.
