Search results for "may-a"
Wildcard (week 32):
May-a – Central Station
Maya Cumming is a self-made artist who started her career as an extremely successful YouTuber. Her videos often reached over a million views. Nevertheless, she deleted them following her decision to fully focus on her musical career. Attracting an impressive fanbase (once again) with her first, self-released songs, she recently signed to major label Atlantic.
May-a already worked with Baby Queen and Powfu, and just released her debut EP Don’t Kiss Ur Friends. “It follows the course of a relationship, a journey of queer discovery, and the growth from an adolescent to a young adult”, she explains. “Each song is a piece of the last four or five years of my life, the most recent track having been written last year and the earliest at 16. As the music developed, so did I. You can listen to me grow up, gain confidence and understand myself through the way I approach my relationships.”
Central Station is the 19-year-old Sydney-based singer-songwriter’s new single. She wrote is near the end of her relationship with the girl half the EP is about. The track starts off with Cumming sitting on a train talking to her girlfriend, while looking at this other person in the train. Bursting with self-awareness with a dash of cynicism, it outlines just how fast we can lose our feelings for those who were once the centre of our world.
As our new Wildcard, Central Station by May-a is the centre-piece of the Carte Blanche Music blog. It’ll feature here prominently for a whole week, before leaving from platform one.
Recommended as well:
May-a – Apricots
May-a – Green
Follow May-a on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2021 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
May-a – Apricots
19-year-old Sydney-based artist May-a’s been writing songs as long as she can remember. Yet, she only released her first single Fool’s Paradise 13 months ago. Apricots is her fourth single to date, and arguably the most overtly personal one thus far. It’s a cool, honest and nonchalant indie pop song about queer desire, which she wrote this time last year.
May-a says: “This song is super important to me because I wrote it around the time that I was coming to terms with my sexuality and realising I had feelings for a girl for the first time. I originally started writing it about a relationship, but as it evolved it became more about my current self talking to my past self. The song is ultimately a letter to my younger self, helping her come to terms with the fact that she is looking for something ‘she doesn’t even know she wants’ and letting her know that that’s ok.”
Recommended as well:
May-a – Green
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
May-a – Green
18-year-old Maya Cumming is born in Byron, Australia, but currently based in Sydney. She writes her stage name as ‘May-a’ to point out the correct pronunciation to people who pronounce her name as ‘Myah’. Only three singles into her career, she’s already proven that she’s a song-writing force to be reckoned with.
About her new single, she says: “Green is an outlook on the way that validation fuels the way we live, especially in green teens. Young, impressionable and desperate to be accepted by people they don’t even like. I wrote it when I was 15 and bored by the hierarchy of high school. It paints a picture of the things that teenagers think are important until they realise they aren’t.”
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Additions to the Carte Blanche Music playlist (week 2)
Only the best new music from a truly massive release week (alphabetically):
- Archie X – Can’t Walk Away/If I Were You
pop
- Holly Arrowsmith – Desert Dove
folk | indie | melancholic | pop
- Belle & Sebastian – I Don’t Know What You See In Me
indie | pop
- Blanko – Stop The Clock
indie | pop | rock
- Circa Waves – Never Going Under
indie | pop | rock
- Gaz Coombes – Turn The Car Around
indie | pop
- Kate Davis – Monster Mash
indie | pop | rock
- Dulcie – Test Drive
indie | pop
- Lizzie Esau – Jellyfish
indie | pop | rock
- Everything But The Girl – Nothing Left To Lose
trip hop
- The Go! Team – Gemini
hip hop | indie | pop
- Honeyboys – Mr. Daniels
indie | pop | rock
- Kingfisher – Until I Lose My Mind
indie | pop | rock
- The Lottery Winners – Worry
indie | pop | rock
- Luude & Issey Cross (feat. Moby) – Oh My
dance | drum & bass
- Måneskin (feat. Tom Morello) – Gossip
rock
- May-a – Sweat You Out My System
pop | rock
- Tom McGuire & The Brassholes – Unshakable
funk | indie | pop | soul
- Liela Moss – Come And Find Me
indie | pop
- Nena Daconte con Celia Becks – Tu Canción
indie | pop
- Riku Rajamaa – Hold Me Close
indie | pop
- The Reytons – One More Reason
indie | rock
- Freya Ridings – Weekends
pop
- Rori – Ma Place
pop
- Rosemary’s Sons – The Ride
indie | pop | rock
- Stacey Ryan – Over Tonight
pop
- Spacey Jane (feat. Benee) – Lots Of Nothing
indie | pop | rock
- Stace Cadet – Light Me Up
dance
- Raine Stern – So Precarious
funk | indie | pop | soul
- Tensnake & Drama – Rooftops
indie | pop
- Young Gun Silver Fox – Still Got It Goin’ On
indie | pop | soul
Check them all in the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music Spotify playlist.
Follow (click ‘♥’) to hear the best new music first.
Wildcard (week 25):
Strawberry Swing feat. meadowhip – Bennie (Won’t Dance)
Australia-based indie-pop duo Strawberry Swing consists of Mark Griffin (from Down Under) and Iranian-born Nima Dehghani. With their 2021 debut EP Taste The Berry, they established themselves in the local scene. They already opened for artists like May-a, The Tin Knees, Tiarnie and Droves. For this year, they have even bigger plans. With their new single, they’re off to a good start.
Inspired by icons including Elton John, Billie Joel, David Bowie and The Beatles, Bennie (Won’t Dance) is a nod to classic rock songs with a modern indie twist. It’s a deliciously energetic song, driven by a dynamic indie-rock melody and jangly guitars. Of equal importance are the engaging vocals, provided by fellow musician/singer-songwriter Cara Walkam, a.k.a. meadowhip.
All in all, this is the ultimate feel-good tune. And to make that feeling even better, Strawberry Swing feat. meadowhip is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. This means, it’ll feature prominently at the top of this blog for a whole week!
Follow Strawberry Swing on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
Follow meadowhip on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2022 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
Carte Blanche Music Top 2021
Ahead of your favourites among this year’s Carte Blanche Music recommendations, which I’ll publish next week, these are my personal choices from the songs that came out in 2021. This list holds only 100 tracks, but you can find all of my 998 recommendations in my container playlist Carte Blanche Music 2021.
As always, I love to share some statistics about the Carte Blanche Music Top 2021. If there’s one – sad – common denominator to be found in this list, it’s that most of these songs have been criminally overlooked by radio stations outside the artist’s home countries. Radio playlists are growing more and more uniform, denying the diversity of the music available. Obviously, with over 60.000 new tracks added to Spotify every day the supply is kind of excessive, but more adventurous choices would be very welcome. Knowing this won’t happen, the best you can do is follow the Carte Blanche Music playlist, then I’ll keep you updated 😉. This is what you can expect, based on this year’s Top 2021:
- Mostly (young and) upcoming artists, many of whom release their music independently
- No less than 72% of the Top 2021 features female vocalists, up from 70% in our Top 2020 and 60% in the Top 2019
- We love pure pop songs, but with 40% guitar-based tracks, we’re more rock ‘n’ roll than average. According to Spotify Wrapped, our favourite genres last year were indie pop, modern alternative rock and dance pop, and we agree
- You can expect the best new tunes from all over the world, but even we have our preferences. We have extra warm feelings for music from countries like Australia, France, Canada and Denmark. Just so you know…
The Carte Blanche Music Top 2021 features 100 tracks, which are presented below in alphabetical order. You can listen to them all via the Spotify player. If you prefer another order, the shuffle button is your friend.
Meanwhile, you can read my original recommendations through the links below.
- Ali Barter – You Get In My Way
- Alice Merton – Island
- The Allergies – Move On Baby
- Ally Cribb – Bigger
- Alta Falls – The Fire
- Aly & AJ – Don’t Need Nothing
- Amy Shark – Baby Steps
- Angèle – Libre
- Anish Kumar & Barry Can’t Swim – Blackpool Boulevard
- Archie X – Fight Me
- Baby Queen – You Shaped Hole (WC)
- Bakermat (feat. LaShun Pace) – Ain’t Nobody
- Baxtr – In Pop We Trust (WC)
- beabadoobee – He Gets Me So High (*) (WC)
- Blu DeTiger – Blondes
- Buffalo Paradise – Buffalo Paradise
- bülow – Revolver
- Calogero – Centre Ville
- Camila Cabello – Don’t Go Yet
- Charlie Collins – Just My Luck
- Chloe Lilac – 19
- Clara Luciani – Respire Encore (WC)
- Clypso – On Our Way (WC)
- Coeur De Pirate – Tu Peux Crever Là-Bas (*)
- Cold War Kids – What You Say
- Coral Palms – Something In The Air (WC)
- Daði Freyr & Ásdís – Feel The Love
- Dead Anyway – Pigs In Blankets
- Drew Sycamore – 45 Fahrenheit Girl (WC)
- Dual – Wipe Your Tears Away
- Dua Lipa – Love Again (WC)
- Dubstar – Tectonic Plates
- Dylan Cartlidge – Hang My Head (WC)
- Eyjaa – Don’t Forget About Me
- Fear Of Tigers – Tiger Blood
- Foals – Wake Me Up (WC)
- Foo Fighters – Waiting On A War
- Foxes – Sister Ray (WC)
- Grand Corps Malade – Des Gens Beaux
- Haerts – Days Go By (WC)
- Halsey – Honey
- Harry Styles – Treat People With Kindness (WC)
- Hawke – Pinch Me (Am I Dreaming?) (WC)
- Hope Tala – Tiptoeing (WC)
- Jaguar Jonze – Who Died And Made You King? (WC)
- Japanese Breakfast – Paprika
- Jonas Brøg (feat. Lilian Vieira) – I’m Your Nr. 1 [Brazilian Version] (WC)
- Julie Zenatti – France Et Jojo
- Kacey Musgraves – There Is A Light
- King Stingray – Milkumana
- Kinishao – Always In My Head
- Laura Mac – Garage Full Of Dreams (WC)
- Lauran Hibberd – Bleugh (WC)
- Lights – Prodigal Daughter
- Lissie – Hey Boy (WC)
- Lizzie Esau – Bitter Weather
- Lou Hayter – Time Out Of Mind
- Lucy Spraggan – Heartbreak Suites (*)
- Madison Olds – If You Wanna
- mags – I Can’t Get Over You
- Maisie Peters – Psycho
- Marina – Purge The Poison (WC)
- May-a – Central Station (WC)
- Mazy – Flowers (WC)
- Mike Posner (feat. James Valentine & Jacob Scesney) – Amor Fati
- Miles Kane feat. Corinne Bailey Rae – Nothing’s Ever Gonna Be Good Enough (WC)
- Miss Machine – Regarder Les Choses
- Monowhales – He Said/She Said (I Wait) (WC)
- Montaigne – Technicolour
- Niko Rubio – You Could Be The One (WC)
- Olivia Rodrigo – Good 4 U
- Orla Gartland – You’re Not Special, Babe
- Palaye Royale – No Love In LA
- Parcels – Comingback (WC)
- Päter – Obstinate Brain
- Philippine – Bah Non. (WC)
- Placebo – Beautiful James
- The Ramona Flowers feat. Nile Rodgers – Up All Night
- Render Ghosts – Eye Rhyme
- RoseeLu – Playing Alone (WC)
- Saint Djuni – All Of My Friends (WC)
- Self Esteem – How Can I Help You (WC)
- Slothrust – Once More For The Ocean (WC)
- Smith & Thell – Pixie’s Parasol (WC)
- Stefanie Heinzmann – Labyrinth (WC)
- Super db – Wait For Me
- Telenova – Bones (WC)
- Thunder Fox – Not For Sale
- Torres – Thirstier (WC)
- Tove Styrke – Start Walking
- Troi Irons – She Loves Me Not
- Vistas – Start Again
- Who – Hey! Get Out The Way (WC)
- Who Parked The Car – Candle Dance
- Willow feat. Travis Barker – Transparent Soul
- Wilsn – You Know Better (WC)
- Wolf Alice – How Can I Make It OK?
- Yelle – Noir (WC)
- Youth Sector – Self Exile (WC)
- Yuke – Stranger Still (WC)
(WC) ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
(*) album track
Werner’s Weekly (week 34)
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:
- Saint Djuni – All Of My Friends (Wildcard this week)
- May-a – Central Station (Wildcard last week)
- Cyn – Wonderful
- Edith – Who Cares
- Ladyhawke – Think About You
- Riley Rex – Demon
- World’s First Cinema – Perfect Hell
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: Lorde, Natalie Imbruglia, Santana feat. Rob Thomas & American Authors, The Wombats, and more.
Werner’s Weekly (week 33)
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:
- May-a – Central Station (Wildcard this week)
- Parcels – Comingback (Wildcard last week)
- Jungle – Truth
- L Devine – Priorities
- Said The Whale – 99 To The Moon
- Tatum Quinn – Set You Straight
- The Vaccines – Alone Star
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: Bloxx, Duck Sauce, Jade Bird, Toyah, and more.
Carte Blanche Music Top 2020
Ahead of your favourites among this year’s Carte Blanche Music recommendations, which I’ll publish tomorrow, these are my personal choices from the songs that came out in 2020. This list holds only 100 tracks, but you can find all of my 994 recommendations in my container playlist Carte Blanche Music 2020.
As always, I love to share some statistics about the Carte Blanche Music Top 2020. These findings are further evidence of the fact that the music radio stations play for you is far from representative of the wealth of great new music out there. Thankfully, there are blogs like Carte Blanche Music that are independent and unbiased, and don’t want to please everybody at the same time. We’re here to surprise you with great new music, no matter what genre or gender, origin or orientation. Just a few statistics:
- Judging from this Top 100 alone (let alone the full container playlist), 2020 was a great year for pure pop music, young artists, ‘80s influences, independent releases, the Australian music scene, queer pop-rock and female vocalists
- A whopping 70% of the tracks in this year’s list feature female lead vocals (and I thought the 60% in the Carte Blanche Music Top 2019 was impressive already)
- Overall, rock ruled. 54% of the tracks in my year-end chart is guitar-based (just over last year’s tally)
- The list clearly shows there are more countries that produce great artists than Great-Britain and the United States alone. This year, more nationalities than ever are represented in my Top 100. You’ll also find artists from Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland
- As a result, although most lyrics are in English, you’ll also hear songs (partly) sung in French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Swedish
The Carte Blanche Music Top 2020 features 100 tracks, which are presented below in alphabetical order. You can listen to them all via the Spotify player. If you prefer another order, just use the shuffle button 😉.
Meanwhile, you can read my original recommendations through the links below.
- A Is For Arrows – Every Now And Then
- Abbie Ozard – True Romance (WC)
- Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu
- Aitana – 11 Razones
- Alex The Astronaut – I Think You’re Great (WC)
- Alice & Moi – T’aimerais Que Ce Soit Vrai
- Altered By Mom – Better On The Page
- Amy Allen – Difficult
- Archie X – Loud Boy (WC)
- Ava Max – Kings And Queens
- Awolnation feat. Alice Merton – The Best
- Badflower – 30
- Baxtr – Bloom (WC)
- Bée – Nothing Alike (WC)
- The Beths – Mars, The God Of War
- Betty Who – The One
- Blossoms – It’s Going To Be A Cold Winter
- Bloxx – Off My Mind
- Bloxx – 5000 Miles (WC)
- Calogero – La Rumeur
- Charles – Far Gone
- Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið – Think About Things
- Dagny – Coulda Woulda Shoulda (*)
- Don Diablo – Invincible
- Don’t Bring Stacey – Waiting For It
- Dopha – Anti Breakup Song
- Doves – Prisoners (WC)
- Dua Lipa – Physical (WC)
- Dua Lipa – Break My Heart
- Dua Lipa (feat. DaBaby) – Levitating [Single Version]
- Efecto Pasillo feat. Huecco – Funketón [2020 Version]
- Egoism – You You (WC)
- Ella Grace – Unfree
- Ellur – Alive
- The Flowers – You Don’t Say!
- Francesco Gabbani – Il Sudore Ci Appiccica
- Genes – Super Single
- Gin Wigmore – HBIC
- Grace Farriss – All The People (WC)
- Gracie Abrams – Friend
- Grand Corps Malade – Pas Essentiel (WC)
- Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (WC)
- Harper Bloom – Walk My Way
- Hedda Mae – Madness
- The Hold Steady – Family Farm
- Hollie Col – She Knows (WC)
- Holy Holy (feat. Queen P) – Port Rd (WC)
- Hope D – Second
- Hoshi feat. Corine – Larmes De Croco (WC)
- Icona Pop & Sofi Tukker – Spa
- Indochine x Christine & The Queens – 3Sex
- Izo FitzRoy – Red Line (WC)
- Jaclyn – Energy
- Jake Bugg – Rabbit Hole
- Joan – Want U Back
- Joel Culpepper – WAR (WC)
- Julie Bergan – Commando (WC)
- Kailee Morgue – This Is Why I’m Hot (*)
- Keleketla! – International Love Affair (WC)
- Killboy – That’s OK I’ll Just Fuck Myself
- King Princess – Pain
- Kristiane – Wish I Could Be Your Girl
- La Oreja De Van Gogh – Te Pareces Tanto A Mí
- Lauran Hibberd – Boy Bye
- Lime – Fever
- Lola Lennox – Back At Wrong
- London Grammar – Baby It’s You
- The Lottery Winners – An Open Letter To Creatives (WC)
- Lova – Black Converse
- Lova – One Day Left
- Lucas Hamming – Falling
- The Magic Gang – Make Time For Change (WC)
- May-a – Apricots
- Miss Li – Therapy
- Miss Machine – Tout Autour
- MisterWives – Rock Bottom (WC)
- Monowhales – BL/FF (Fake Friends) (WC)
- Ocean Grove – Dream
- ONR (feat. Nile Rodgers) – Kill TV (WC)
- Palace Winter (feat. Penny Police) – Richard (Says Yes) (WC)
- Pixey – Just Move (WC)
- Pyro – Your Love
- Raave Tapes – Habitual
- The Radar Station – Zanzara [2020 Version] (*)
- Raye – Love Of Your Life
- Red Rum Club – The Elevation
- Ren – I Drive Me Mad (WC)
- Rinse feat. Hatchie – Back Into Your Arms
- Rooue – What You Want (WC)
- Sebu with Eraserfase – The Worst That Could Happen To Us (WC)
- Semisonic – Basement Tapes
- Sidonie with Delaporte – Mi Vida Es La Música
- Slum Sociable (feat. Kye) – You’re In My Head
- Super-Hi x Neeka – Following The Sun
- T99 vs. Youngr – Anasthasia [Youngr Bootleg]
- Temples – Paraphernalia
- Texas & Wu-Tang Clan – Hi
- Town Of Cats – Lemons (WC)
- Veronica Fusaro – Beach
- Videoclub – Enfance 80
(WC) ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
(*) album track
Werner’s Weekly (week 22)
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:
- Gizmo Varillas – Born Again (Wildcard this week)
- Bloxx – Lie Out Loud (Wildcard last week)
- May-a – Green
- Moby Rich & Bishop Briggs – Friends*
- The Rehats – Nothing But The Truth
- Washington – Dark Parts
- X Ambassadors with K.Flay & grandson – Zen
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: Editors, Ozark Henry, Indigo Girls, The Jayhawks, and many more.