Browsing Category album track
Lizzo (feat. Gucci Mane) – Exactly How I Feel
Born Melissa Jefferson, Lizzo lived in Detroit until she was nine, when she and her family moved to Houston. While growing up, she listened to gospel at home, took flute lessons, and played in her school’s marching band. She began rapping when she was 14. In recent years, she grew out to be a Carte Blanche Music favourite, scoring Wildcards with her singles Boys and Juice.
Lizzo’s third album Cuz I Love You is her major label debut. It sees her combining her musical roots with issues of race, sexuality, and body positivity, always displayed with humour and charisma. One of my favourite tracks on the album is Exactly How I Feel (featuring Gucci Mane). I’d love to see and hear this one pop up on playlists all over streaming services and radio stations!
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
The Black Keys – Shine A Little Light
When they finished touring their 2014 album Turn Blue, The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach said he had become so alienated from his job, that he could play to a huge crowd without thinking about what he was doing. The five-year break that followed, allowed and Patrick Carney him to focus again. Last week, the band returned with their tenth album “Let’s Rock”.
According to Auerbach, the inspiration for the album’s title was a news story regarding the execution of convicted murderer Edmund Zagorski that he read while the band was recording the album. When asked for any last words before his execution, Zagorski reportedly told the guard, “Let’s rock”, before being executed via the electric chair. This also explains the prominent placing of the death machine on the album’s artwork.
Not wasting any time, the record opens with a track that’s a firm favourite of mine. Shine A Little Light immediately shows the double meaning of the album title. It has the kind of great riff the band are popular for. Hard on the one hand, but irresistibly poppy on the other. This would make a great single!
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Alfie Templeman – Tragic Love
Only 16 years ago, Alfie Templeman was born in a household full of musical stimuli. His sister is a pianist and plays trumpet, and his dad collects guitars. It was inevitable that Alfie would ask for drum lessons aged just seven years old, and at 13, he installed recording equipment in his bedroom. This is where he writes, records and produces everything he makes.
Templeman just released his second EP, Sunday Morning Cereal on Chess Club Records, home to MØ and Sundara Karma, and renowned for early releases from Wolf Alice, Jungle, and Mumford & Sons.
He tells about the EP: “There’s a lot of r&b and indie coming together in this record. I wanted to experiment a little more with groovy drum beats and ‘90s hip hop synths, while keeping the indie slacker vibe of my first EP.”
Alfie plays every instrument on the EP, and my favourite track off it is Tragic Love, a mid-tempo, bluesy song about a doomed relationship.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Alex Lahey – Isabella
Only in the autumn of 2017, a year and a half after she broke through in her native Australia, Alex Lahey was picked up in the rest of the world. Her debut album I Love You Like A Brother was an up-tempo trip down guitar lane, but her new album The Best Of Luck Club is a more varied affair.
Isabella, to me, is one of the stand-out tracks, with lyrics as playful as the piano melody it’s built around. Lahey explains: “Isabella doesn’t really need much of an explanation. It’s about a vibrator of which the brand is called ‘Izzy’. The song is about what I think Izzy would be like if it were a person. Basically, she’d be a fucking legend.”
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Lucy Spraggan – Today Was A Good Day
At 19, Lucy Spraggan had the guts to play her own song Last Night (Bear Fear) during her participation in X Factor 2012. While still in the show, it became a Top 20 hit, and her self-released debut album hit the charts as well.
A month ago, she put out her fifth long-player Today Was A Good Day. It’s a confident album full of musical stories, inspired by real-life themes such as marrying her girlfriend and fostering children together. Spraggan explains: “We’ve had 14 kids stay with us so far. We are also trying for our own child so we will see what happens. All this has played a huge part in my writing. It’s an album about growing up.”
The title track is one of the quieter songs on the record, where the singer is accompanied by only an acoustic guitar and strings, to great effect. This would be a wonderful single!
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Cassia – Movers And Shapers
Cassia may not be a household name yet, but their debut album Replica already features seven singles: 100 Times Over, Sink, Out Of Her Mind, Get Up Tight, Loosen Up, Small Spaces and the title track. Does this make Cassia the first band to release a ‘best of’ set as their first album? 😉
Whether this is the case or not, Replica is a very fine compilation of what the band have been up to the last years, and in case you missed that, it’s the best possible introduction. Cassia is a British trio that combine indie-pop with elements of tropical and world music, not unlike Vampire Weekend did early in their career.
Next to the seven singles, this long-player counts four new tracks. Funnily, Movers And Shapers was the title of an EP the band released in 2018, but the EP’s title track features on this album for the first time.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Ten Tonnes – Counting Down
Ten Tonnes (the stage name of Ethan Barnett), recorded their self-titled first album with producers Hugo White (formerly of The Maccabees) and Dan Gretch (Wolf Alice, The Killers, Liam Gallagher). It’s a great debut, including many former singles, like Lucy, Silver Heat, Cracks Between, Lay It On Me, G.I.V.E. and Better Than Me.
In other words: you may already know half of the 12 tracks, but there’s a lot to enjoy amongst the other songs. The driving rocker Counting Down, for instance, would make a great single as well.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Winnetka Bowling League – Diane
Going through Matthew Koma’s CV, I can’t help but thinking about a chameleon. A Koma Chameleon, as Culture Club would have it… Inspired by Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen, Koma started his music career in punk rock, later transitioning into pop, hip hop and EDM. He worked with artists ranging from DJ’s like Zedd, Hardwell and Tiësto, to Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic and Shania Twain.
With his latest project, one might say Koma returned to his roots. Since a year, he is the front man of rock band Winnetka Bowling League. I wrote about their single Feeling California before, which was included on the band’s self-titled debut EP. Last week, they came up with their second EP Cloudy With A Chance Of Sun.
Predominantly produced and recorded by Matthew Koma, the record features six tracks. Kombucha and Slow Dances preceded the release as singles. I’d like to suggest Diane, with its All Day And All Of The Night vibe, as single #3.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Talisco – Sensation
Talisco (née Jérome Amandi in Bordeaux, France) has recently released his third album Kings And Fools. An energetic, joyful, danceable, but before all diverse set of tracks, that appear to have been influenced by fellow French acts like M83 and Phoenix. Still, it sounds like a coherent body of work.
The long-player has been preceded by the singles Sun (the title track of French television series ‘Un Si Grand Soleil’), I’m The Dead Man and Closer, but I’d place my bets on Sensation to become single #4.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Kakkmaddafakka – Get Go
I’m quite fond of Norwegian sextet Kakkmaddafakka; I’ve written about them on this blog a few times before. Most recently, I put forward the track Sin off their most recent album Diplomacy as a potential future single. But that’s not the only great track on the long-player.
This time, I’d like to suggest you listen to the tune Get Go. Another up-tempo, radio-friendly, danceable, 80’s-influenced song that will refuse to leave your head once it’s entered it. You have been warned…
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
