Browsing Category re-release
Tessa Dixson – Beautiful Pain
Like Machines by Billie Louise is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. As I explained, they made the pre-selection of radio station Studio Brussel’s ‘De Nieuwe Lichting 2019’ (‘the new class 2019’). They didn’t win, however. On the other hand, Tessa Dixson was one of the winners of this year’s competition, earning her airplay, studio time and a cheque.
The Belgian singer went to a French-speaking school, speaks English at home and has family in Los Angeles. In 2014, Dixson participated in the Walloon version of The Voice. Since then, she performed live with fellow-Belgian acts Roméo Elvis and Warhola and played numerous festivals.
Beautiful Pain was the song that won her ‘De Nieuwe Lichting’. A wonderfully arranged, dramatic song, combining strings and beats just like Billie Louise’s song (which perhaps explains why the latter didn’t win the competition). Beautiful Pain was released late in 2018 already, but has only now been picked up by Studio Brussel, as part of the prize. A well-deserved second chance!
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.
House Of Spirituals – Too Many Days [Ninja Mix]
House Of Spirituals are a rather mysterious London-based project, apparently featuring a British and a Spanish member. When they released their debut single Too Many Days at the end of 2015, it was immediately clear they’re inspired by Alan Lomax’s field recordings and have an obsession with ‘electronic soul meets swap stomp’.
At the time, they explained in an interview the song was written by the band as a message of hope to themselves, having been in a desolate place. “We had just been talking about the dark times we were going through. The room felt really heavy as it was one of those times when you don’t have an answer to the situation you’re going through. Straight away I went over to the piano and the words ‘too many days, I’ve been down’ came straight out. Then the rest of the song carried on writing itself and got more positive. It became almost a ‘call of arms’ for us to get up and fight our way out of the darkness.”
Three years later, the world has gotten to know artists like Hozier and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, who operate in the same musical field as House Of Spirituals. A great moment to try and launch their career on a broader scale with this beefed-up version of the song that started it all…
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.
Adam Naas – Cherry Lipstick
Parisian singer-songwriter Adam Naas started to conquer the French music scene in 2016 with his promising eponymous EP, a year later followed by the single Please Come Back To Me, which displayed a style that can be described as dark romantic soul. He sings his melancholy lyrics with a characteristic, silken voice.
Now, he is back with his first long player, The Love Album. Last summer, it was preceded by the single Cherry Lipstick, that has now been re-released. It has just a little bit more of an upbeat and rocky edge than before, but one thing’s for sure: this is the sound of now. An artist to reckon with!
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.
Gecko Turner – Un Limón En La Cabeza
Gecko Turner (born Fernando Gabriel Echave Pelaez) grew up in Badajoz, Spain, a small town about halfway between Lisbon and Madrid. He learned English from the blues artists he loved. After a long musical journey, he started composing in a style that combined jazz, blues, samba, reggae, hip-hop, Arab music, and more into something all his own.
When he went to the copyright office to register his songs, the form had a space for both his proper name and an alias. Being nicknamed ‘Gecko’ since boyhood and loving the music of Big Joe Turner, he wrote down Gecko Turner.
His first album Guapapasea! featured the track Un Limón En La Cabeza, that grew out to become one of Turner’s signature tunes. 15 years later, ahead of the release of Soniquete, a compilation of greatest hits, previously unreleased gems and new songs by Gecko Turner (slated for release in autumn 2018), the track is re-released.
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.
