Browsing Category album track
Sorcha Richardson – High In The Garden
Irish singer-songwriter Sorcha Richardson left home for Brooklyn as a teenager to study creative writing. She’d assumed her background as a drummer would lead to her playing in a college band. Instead however, she ended up recording lo-fi demos in her dorm, which gradually picked up traction on SoundCloud. After living in New York for eight years, she moved back to Dublin, where she wrote many of the songs for her debut album First Prize Bravery.
One of my favourite tracks is High In The Garden, which revisits the bitter sweetness of summer. Its vocal melody, bubbly bassline and rhythm section, make for a toe-tappy earworm of a song.
Recommended as well:
Sorcha Richardson – Don’t Talk About It
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.
Sheila & The Kit – Mike
Following a string of singles and a maxi-single with remixes, Sheila & The Kit just released their first EP. And just to be clear, the Dutch alternative synth-pop outfit called it EP. It contains the past single Ruffhouse and two long tracks: Liar Liar (6’29) and Mike (7’39).
Although I’m a sucker for radio edits and I love a song that makes its point within three and a half minute or so, Mike is a monster track. Made for the dance floor, not for the radio, obviously. In the long, instrumental mid-piece the duo go completely bezerk to great effect. In this case, size does matter (although I’d love to make a radio edit of it, for more exposure 😉 ).
Recommended as well:
Sheila & The Kit – Time Again
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.
Ana & The Changes – Beneath My Lungs / I Turned 30 Yesterday
When Ana & The Changes started a crowdfunding for their second album, they announced it would be named Beneath My Lungs. As you might have expected from a band called The Changes, they eventually changed the title to Differences.
What didn’t change, was their constant high level of song-writing. Serbia-based Ana Ćurčin must be among the most talented singer-songwriters of her region. To me, Beneath My Lungs (which was once meant to be the album’s title track) is one of the stand-out tracks. A wonderful piece of sophisticated pop, with a lovely piano, an inimitable drum pattern and subtle backing vocals.
For another album highlight, listen to I Turned 30 Yesterday. A lovely song that pairs an infectious organ part with an instrument as unlikely as a kazoo, to great effect.
Recommended as well:
Ana & The Changes – Differences
Ana & The Changes feat. Dan Byron – Take My Hand
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.
Barns Courtney – Fun Never Ends
If you like your music upbeat, hard and uplifting, this one’s for you! Fun Never Ends is my favourite track on Barns Courtney’s new album 404. It could easily follow in the footsteps of earlier singles “99”, You And I and Hollow.
Fun Never Ends isn’t only on Courtney’s new album, it is also featured on the official soundtrack of the NHL 20 videogame. A great way to reach a huge audience!
Recommended as well:
Barns Cortney – “99”
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.
Feeder – Guillotine
Following their 50(!) track Best Of album in 2017, and after spending the year 2018 making old B-sides available online for the first time, Feeder are back with brand-new material in 2019. They just put out their tenth studio album Tallulah.
Guillotine, which addresses social media witch hunts and climate crisis-era malaise, is my favourite track on the long-player. An epic rock ballad with bells and strings, and an overall Smashing Pumpkins vibe.
Recommended as well:
Feeder – Youth
Feeder – Bruised
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.
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.
