Browsing Category single track
Wildcard (week 38):
Mélodie Lauret – 23h28
19. This girl is only 19 years old. And what a talent! To me, 23h28 by Mélodie Lauret may be one of the debuts of the year.
Her very first single is a musical coming out in more ways than one, and it’s utterly beautiful. If you speak French, the powerful lyrics will move you, whether you listen to them deliberately or not. Lauret doesn’t really sing the song, she speaks the words. A bit like Grand Corps Malade, whom I’m fond of as well. If you don’t speak French, there is enough to like in the overall melody. Or Mélodie, if you like. Slow beats, a sparse but effective bassline, eerie backing vocals… this is a real treat.
23h28 is a song in the best French ‘chanson’ tradition. Already picked up by a major record label, Mélodie Lauret is certainly one to watch. Her debut single is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
In the Wildcards 2019 playlist you can find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
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.
Stuck On Planet Earth – Rising
Remember 1987 novelty hit Stuck On Earth by Alf? It was actually produced by Dutch mixer Ben Liebrand and based on samples from TV series ‘Alf’. It was a Top 10 hit in Liebrand’s home country and also reached the charts in Australia and New Zealand.
20 years later, teenagers Adam Bianchi, Al Capo and Andrew Testa from Ontario called their band Stuck On Planet Earth. Talking to The Reviews Are In, the Canadians said about the origins of that name: “Honestly, we just wanted a band name that was original, and was a statement. We all really liked Stuck On Planet Earth because the name has a lot of power when you say it.” The band cite The Police, Jimmy Eat World, blink-182, Nirvana and Foo Fighters as their influences.
In the first quarter of 2020, Stuck On Planet Earth release their long overdue debut album Beautiful Nowhere. Rising, a song about pain, sacrifice and perseverance, is its first single. “Life can get difficult, and we all have personal struggles and challenges, but it’s that constant belief and strength to continue going that’s embedded within all of us that makes us resilient.”
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.
Grace Potter (feat. Lucius) – Back To Me
Grace Potter’s musical career spans almost two decades. She performed with acts as varied as Kenny Chesney, Flaming Lips, and the Grateful Dead and released her only solo album Midnight in 2015. But due to major changes in her life (a break-up, a new-found love and her first child), she nearly quit making music. The songs the now 36-year-old American singer wrote since then were meant as therapy, not to be released.
However, singing to her baby brought back her sense of purpose, and she decided to record the songs anyway. They were produced by her current partner Eric Valentine. He previously worked with the likes of Third Eye Blind, Smash Mouth, Queens Of The Stone Age, Good Charlotte, and The Wombats.
Potter’s new album Daylight will be out on 25 October. It’s preceded by a great new single: Back To Me. Whether you like soul, country or gospel, this is a song for you. It features additional vocals by Lucius vocalists Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe. They contributed to four songs on Daylight. The album also features Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench.
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.
Rick Astley – Every One Of Us
A lot has changed since Rick Astley started his career as a tea boy in the Stock Aitken Waterman studios. His first proper single Never Gonna Give You Up (1987) was a worldwide smash and in the years that followed, he sold over 40 million records. After 1993, Astley retired from the music industry at the age of 27, deciding that family life was more important.
In 2007, he made an unlikely comeback as an internet phenomenon. His Never Gonna Give You Up video showed up everywhere unexpectedly, a viral internet meme known as ‘rickrolling’.
On 25 October, Astley releases a new greatest hits album: The Best Of Me. It features original and reimagined versions of his hits, as well as the new song Every One Of Us. A tune with a surprising new sound, in line with that of Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Hozier. Astley wrote and produced the song himself, and played all of the instruments on it. A great and welcome return!
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.
Elsa Birgitta Bekman – Desire Lines
Elsa Birgitta Bekman is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music video director/producer with French and Swedish roots. She fronted Dutch soul band The Tibbs, whose great single Lies featured here two years ago. Currently, she’s pursuing a solo project based on the music that’s closest to her heart. Key words are nostalgic, melancholic and romantic.
Her debut album Once In My Life will be out in May 2020. Following its title track, Desire Lines is the long-player’s second single. It comes with a magical video, that took Bekman (and her frequent collaborator and videographer Harmen Commandeur) two years to make. The clip is recorded in Sweden and shows her parental home both as it is and in the form of a doll house. The characters in the video switch between real humans and dolls as well. Very much worth 5 minutes of your 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.
Rex Orange County – 10/10
Rex Orange County is the stage name of British musician Alex O’Connor. The ‘O.C.’ is derived from his last name.
Following his biggest (streaming) hit, 2017’s Loving Is Easy, he did release some tunes. A 2018 rework of Randy Newman’s You’ve Got A Friend In Me, featuring Ran the Man himself, for instance. And last Valentine’s Day’s surprise song New House. Yet, his new single 10/10 is billed as his ‘first formal single’ since Loving Is Easy.
Listening to 10/10’s lyrics, 2018 must have been a hard year for Rex Orange County. ‘I had a year that nearly sent me off the edge / I feel like a five, I can’t pretend / But if I get my shit together this year / Maybe I’ll be a ten’. Musically though, it’s as sunny an affair as ever.
No news about a next studio album yet, but this will get us through the autumn.
Recommended as well:
Rex Orange County – Sunflower
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 Lost Hours – Lonely Love
The Lost Hours is 20-year-old singer-songwriter Callum James Hamilton from Leeds, UK. At a young age, he was drawn to the likes of Joni Mitchell, John Martyn and Nick Drake, who featured in his dad’s vinyl collection.
After moving to London in 2017, he challenged himself to play seven straight nights a week for a whole year. He ended up being discovered by former Infadels frontman Bnann, who is now his manager.
Lonely Love is a new track off The Lost Hours’ upcoming debut EP. A bittersweet cocktail of emotions, it moves from the introverted intro and verses into a bubblegum call and response chorus.
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.
Ali Barter – January
Four months early, Ali Barter releases her new single January. A song that builds up tension throughout, only to explode right at the end, when she hits all the high notes. Somehow, the track reminds me of Tracy Bonham.
January is the latest single to precede Barter’s second album Hello, I’m Doing My Best (due out on 18 October). It’s a rant against New Year’s resolutions. Barter explains: “It seems like every year, January rolls around and I’m still trying to fix the same things as the year before. The older I get the more I realize that I don’t change, this is all I got. So fuck it.”
Once again, the Australian singer-songwriter combines a killer song with a killer (one-shot) video. You can watch it below (or listen through your platform of choice).
Recommended as well:
Ali Barter – Backseat
Ali Barter – Girlie Bits
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.
Sitting On Stacy – Chest Hair
Hoyt Yeatman (lead vocals/guitar) and Kyle Hart (bass/vocals) met when they were in elementary school. In 2013, they formed a band named Paper. However, searching the internet for “Paper” gave people a great deal at Office Depot, but made it hard to find the band. Hence they renamed it to Sitting On Stacy, a name that occurred in a dream of Hoyts. Leland Schenck (drums) joined the duo soon afterwards.
Sitting On Stacy is a San Diego, California based rock/alternative band with a ska/surf vibe. Their new single Chest Hair could be a last salute to the summer of 2019.
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.
Jay Som – If You Want It
Last summer, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Jay Som drove onto my radar on her Superbike. A few weeks ago, she released her third album Anak Ko (which means ‘my child’ in the Filipino language). A completely self-produced and -engineered affair.
Now, the 25-year-old (real name: Melina Dutertre) serves the next single off it: If You Want It. Equal parts pop and folk, this is a very accessible song, with a fun, psychedelic twist half a minute before the end.
Music directors and playlist curators who are up for something original should listen. If you’re the Top 40/dime a dozen type, don’t even bother and spin another boring hit…
Recommended as well:
Jay Som – Superbike
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.
