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Malory feat. Yseult – Morceaux De Toi
Originally from Madagascar, Yohann Malory (35) is a well-known French composer. He wrote songs for artists like Jenifer, M. Pokora, and Louane. After releasing four singles under his own name in 2019, he just put out his first mixtape Métropole Blues. Among the 11 tracks are collaborations with Claire Laffut, Holybrune, Hok and S.Pri Noir.
Morceaux De Toi (which translates as ‘pieces of you’) is Malory’s new single. The track features singer-songwriter and model Yseult. It’s so sultry and seductive, it could only have been made in France.
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.
Charmless i – Superhero
Dutch rock band Charmless i appear to have found their definitive sound on their new single Superhero. That sound is a great blend of things they tried on their first two EP’s. Their debut EP First Coming had an electro feel with organic instruments added, while successor Next Level sort of reversed that approach.
New single Superhero is the most catchy danceable rock song of the year, so far. A track with equal parts guitar licks, juicy synths and pounding electronic drums. But it’s the pumping organic rhythm section, the ‘hey hey hey’ shouts and the Sympathy For The Devil-like ‘Woo-hoo’s that add the swagger to it.
A great tune and a promising start of the campaign that will result in the release of the band’s third EP. Make Me Wanna is scheduled for release in June.
Recommended as well:
Charmless i – Cold Queen Killer
Charmless i – Fire Up (Here We Go)
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.
Lux Lyall – Mad With The Moon
London-based songwriter-poet Lux Lyall draws elements of old Hollywood noir charm and alt-pop. She only released her first single Teeth in July 2019. Less than a year later, on 24 April, she’ll put out her debut album VAMP. A collection full of emotion, drenched in dark and decadent theatrical tones. She calls the long-player ‘a document of my (relatively unstable) personal journey so far’. “Music anchors me”, she says. “It’s how I try to keep a grip on things and make sense of myself.”
Her beautiful new single Mad With The Moon is no different. It manages to combine delicate guitars, tasteful piano, stunning orchestral tones and sultry vocals, without going over the top. Lux explains: “I started writing Mad With The Moon after coming out of a terrible relationship. It began as a heart-breaky ballad, but over time it’s shifted from being about a break-up to being my way of refusing to apologise for my determination. It became progressively faster and angrier and ended up as a ‘fuck you’ song. If anyone I’m dating can’t keep up with me that’s on them.”
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 Snuts – Fatboy Slim
It didn’t take Scottish indie darlings The Snuts a long time to become live staples. Just one recent example: they sold out the only Scottish date (9 May in Edinburgh) on their upcoming tour in just six seconds. Nicely timed for that tour, they’ll put out the new 8-track Mixtape EP on 13 March. It will feature five singles alongside three interludes.
One of those singles is called Fatboy Slim. A real indie stomper, with more than one reference to the titular superstar DJ, most obviously in the chorus. Packed with hooks, it’s got a groove that will drive even the most reluctant to the dancefloor. Speaking of the track, lead singer Jack Cochrane said: “The song is a nod to the nostalgic subculture of live music across the UK in the ‘90s and similar decades. Toying with the idea of sampled drum loops and an electronic music styled structure the track is intended to pay homage to Fatboy Slim’s notorious set at Brighton beach almost 15 years ago.”
Recommended as well:
The Snuts – All Your Friends
The Snuts – Seasons
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.
Mystery Jets – Petty Drone
Mystery Jets’ upcoming album A Billion Heartbeats was originally due last year. It was postponed however, after singer Blaine Harrison had to undergo emergency surgery. It will now be released on 3 April.
Four tracks off the album have already been issued as singles. They are now collected on the EP Petty Drone, including the previously unreleased title track, which is their new single. It’s a call to arms, thick with the melodies of ‘70s Queen and what the band describe as a kind of ‘psychedelic anger’. The song’s lyrics were inspired by the Adam Curtis film HyperNormalisation, and the modern phenomenon of surveillance capitalism: “Ostracised, de-nationalised, re-categorised… polarised, de-sensitised….”
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.
Jack River – Dark Star
Australia should be in the news because of its staggering amount of musical talent. Alas, the devastating bushfires currently dominate the headlines. Jack River (the alias of 28-year-old Holly Rankin) unites both subjects. Apart from being a successful musician, she’s been on the frontline of the climate crisis fight. She hosted a panel of climate experts in Sydney last spring. Also, she performed to 80K people there in the autumn for School Strike for Climate. Since Carte Blanche Music isn’t a political platform, I’ll just focus on her musical activities.
In March, Jack River will be one of quite a few Aussie talents to play showcase festival SXSW in Austin, Texas. In an ideal world, her new single Dark Star would be a big hit by then. The track sees her tapping into long-past feelings, when she sings of the dark obsession underlying young love. River intended it to be ‘a racy, guitar-y, sentimental song that made you feel like you’re driving past your ex’s house’. While writing it, she imagined a song that replicated the feeling of ‘having your heart dragged through the room while listening to Oasis’. This information adds a whole new dimension to enjoying the tune, doesn’t it?
Dark Star is the third and final single to be released ahead of Jack River’s upcoming Stranger Heart EP. It’ll be out on Valentine’s Day.
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.
Lilly Hiatt – Brightest Star
The first time Lilly and John Hiatt appeared on one record, was on a Record Store Day release in 2019. On one side, John covered his daughter’s All Kinds Of People, while Lilly tackled her father’s You Must Go on the flip. However, on her upcoming album Walking Proof (due out 27 March), he makes a proper appearance. The track Some Kind Of Drug marks his first guest spot on one of his daughter’s albums.
Brightest Star is the long-player’s first single. It’s an irresistible piece of jangle-rock that doesn’t hide her Nashville roots. An empowering song about walking through life’s darkest moments of insecurity and self-doubt. “So give ’em hell, kid, don’t worry about the rest of it, let it roll”, Lilly Hiatt sings. “The brightest star in my whole sky is you.”
The video is shot at the singer’s favourite Nashville tattoo shop, Electric Hand Tattoo.
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.
Lauran Hibberd – Bang Bang Bang
Singer-songwriter Lauran Hibberd, from Isle Of White, started playing guitar and writing songs when she was 14. She’s been prolific from the start. “I write two songs a week, I always have”, she told British trade publication Music Week.
Her latest slacker jam Bang Bang Bang is her favourite song of hers so far. “It’s my Crash by The Primitives, my ode to the ’90s teenager and the soundtrack to every mistake I’ve ever made and how I can laugh at that now.” Bang Bang Bang is Hibberd’s first taste of new music in the new decade, following last year’s four-song EP Everything Is Dogs and additional single Sweat Patch.
Recommended as well:
Lauran Hibberd – Sweat Patch
Lauran Hibberd – Hoochie
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.
Fickle Friends – Pretty Great
Fickle Friends are from Brighton. So, unsurprisingly, ‘bright’ is one of the first words that spring to mind listening to their new single. But you can also file it under ‘fresh’ or ‘vibrant’.
Pretty Great (pretty great title for a pretty great song) is an addictive synth-pop tune, full of charming, relatable lyrics. Singer Natti Shiner explains: “This one is about getting wasted at a party and waking up the next day with a faint glimmer of a memory. And that memory is of falling in love with the coolest person you can imagine. And you just hate yourself for getting so out of control, because now you have no idea if it even happened, if they’re even real… or if you’ll ever see them again.”
Following last year’s Amateurs, Pretty Great is the second taste of music to come from their forthcoming second album. It’s due later this year.
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.
Soccer Mommy – Circle The Drain
Last year, Soccer Mommy released the first two songs off her upcoming album Color Theory (28 February), and here is #3. 22-year-old Nashville native Sophie Allison follows up Lucy and Yellow Is The Color Of Her Eyes with Circle The Drain. The tune is as intriguing as it is contradictory. Lyrically, it addresses dizzying sadnesses, but the melody is poppy and deceptively cheerful. I even hear echoes of Whoops Now by Janet Jackson in it.
Confronting the ongoing mental health and familial trials that have plagued Allison since pre-pubescence, her new album explores three central themes. Blue (representing sadness and depression), yellow (symbolizing physical and emotional illness) and gray (representing darkness, emptiness and loss). Hence its title. “I wanted the experience of listening to Color Theory to feel like finding a dusty old cassette tape that has become messed up over time, because that’s what this album is: an expression of all the things that have slowly degraded me personally”, Soccer Mommy said in a press release.
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.
