Browsing Category single track
The Bird & The Bee (feat. Beck) – Hot For Teacher
Inara George is the daughter of Little Feat’s Lowell George, and Greg Kurstin produced everyone from Lily Allen, Sia and Adele to Beck, Kendrick Lamar and Foo Fighters. In 2004, Kurstin contributed piano to several tracks on George’s solo debut. It was then they laid the foundation for The Bird & The Bee, a jazz-influenced electro-pop project.
Since their 2006 debut EP Again And Again And Again And Again, they released four full albums. One of them was Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall & John Oates. No need to explain the concept of that album, I presume?
As you could also have guessed from the title, The Bird & The Bee intended to give more acts their re-interpretation treatment. Well, on 2 August, Interpreting The Masters Volume 2: A Tribute To Van Halen will see the light of day. Ahead of it, they already released their versions of Panama and Ain’t Talking ‘bout Love, but I like their new single Hot For Teacher the best. Not in the least because of the teacher, impersonated by Beck. The original version is from Van Halen’s album 1984.
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.
Lily Moore – Over You
20-year-old Brixton-based singer-songwriter Lily Moore grew up listening to soul legends like Etta James, Lauryn Hill and Sam Cooke. She started her musical career busking the streets of her hometown, singing her heroes’ repertoire. She translated their inspiration into her own songs, which are disarmingly honest, and stripped back in style.
About her new single Over You, she says: “I think it’s almost easier sometimes when you split up from someone and you both hate each other, because at least then you know how you feel. This song was for me about all the things the person was going to have to do in order for me to hate them and to fully move on.”
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.
Inspired & The Sleep – Getting Through
Inspired & The Sleep are a Los Angeles-via-San Diego based duo, consisting of songwriter/producer Max Greenhalgh and multi-instrumentalist Bryce Outcault. They came on my radar last year, with their aptly titled single First Time. However, by then they were already making music for four years. During these years, they perfected the art of making radio-friendly dream pop. You could have guessed from the band name 😉 .
Getting Through is Inspired & The Sleep’s fourth single of 2019, and likely to become their most successful yet. It’s a well-crafted pop song, built around danceable piano chords and a strumming bassline. If you wouldn’t listen to the lyrics, you might think it’s a happy song. But in reality, Greenhalgh says, “Getting Through describes the desire/hopes to overcome emotional blocks and walls towards the ones closest to you.”
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.
Claire Laffut feat. Yseult – Nudes
Short introduction: Claire Laffut is a 23-year-old Belgian multi-talent, currently living in Paris. She writes, paints, draws and sings. Yseult (24) is a singer-songwriter and model, who was runner up in the tenth season of French TV talent show Nouvelle Star. Since then, she developed her own pop-trap hybrid, called ‘Y-trap’.
The single Nudes brings these upcoming talents together. It’s a fresh track, full of summer vibes and held together by a walking bassline. The song can be found on the mini album Molitor, named after the Paris hotel with its iconic retro swimming pool. The Nudes video was shot there, mixing vintage and modern styles. A feast for ears and eyes !
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.
Isaac Dunbar – ferrari
Isaac Dunbar is an only 16-year-old singer-songwriter and producer from Barnstable, Massachusetts. He debuted last year with the single freshman year, and put out five more singles since then. All of these now appear on his 8-track debut EP balloons don’t float here (apparently, he’s not a big fan of capital letters).
With ferrari, Dunbar releases a sixth single off his EP. A tune with distorted vocals, grungy guitars, hard-hitting beats, and quiet melodies that build into an anthemic chorus. “Ferrari is about friends in your life who spread your secrets around after your friendship ends,” Dunbar explains.
I know this is a dangerous thing to say, and I don’t want to raise too many expectations for this talented young man, but to me, he sounds like a male Billie Eilish. There, I said 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.
Casey Lowry – Boyfriend
Casey Lowry is the king of the killer chorus. The 21-year-old rising newcomer from London has some infectious singles to his name already, and here’s another one. It precedes his upcoming second EP, which is due for release in September 2019.
Boyfriend recounts a humorous yet unfortunate moment with a girl and her new boyfriend. It’s a fresh and dynamic song, that’s built around addictive guitar riffs and sing-a-long hooks, and has been produced by frequent Lana Del Rey collaborator Tim Lacombe.
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.
Nix Dadry (feat. Julie Claire) – Station Street East
Fans of Lenny Kravitz, The Heavy and Aerosmith: please let me introduce you to your new favourite artist, Nix Dadry. Originally from the West Midlands, UK, he now lives in London. Following his 2018 debut album Magic Water, he just released his new EP Screwface.
Station Street East is the EP’s first single. Moved by the black American roots of blues, soul and funk, Dadry describes its musical style as ‘multi-influenced rock’. Lyrically, it reflects on where he grew up, and comments on where we come from in life and where we end up.
Finally, I think a special mention of the uncredited featured singer is in place: Julie Claire isn’t just a background singer, she really adds to the song.|
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.
Dizzy – Heavy
Canadian pop band Dizzy includes Charlie, Alex and Mackenzie Spencer and their neighbour Katie Munshaw. Their debut album Baby Teeth won them the Juno Award for Alternative Album Of The Year, last March.
Now, the band are back with a brand-new EP, Heavy, which contains five tracks. Well, two different songs, in fact: you’ll find three versions of recent single Twist, and two versions of the EP’s title track and new single.
Munshaw explains: “Heavy is a song about feeling sad for long periods of time and being afraid to tell others what you’re going through in fear of hurting or worrying them. I wrote it after a span of touring where we’d been away from home for a long time. I think touring is publicly made out to be exciting but often times, for me at least, it can feel monotonous and lonely, and can incite a lot of self doubt. Charlie and I wrote the first bit of it at a piano in our studio space in Whitby and it quickly came together when Mack and Alex got on board.”
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.
Olympia – Star City
Following an earlier release as a promotional single, Star City gets the full treatment now that Olympia’s second album Flamingo is out. This is the song that opens the long-player, and immediately sets it apart from her earlier work. The hip hop beats of her first album Self Talk are replaced with catchy rock songs.
Olympia is the musical project of Australian singer-songwriter Olivia Jayne Bartley.
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.
Wyke van Weelden – Make You Mine
In 2014, two years after competing in a Dutch TV talent show, singer-songwriter Wyke van Weelden released three beautiful songs. All of them had a strong cinematic (James Bond-like, dare I say Adele-esque?) sound, and not without a reason: Kenau was written for the movie of the same title, the revenues of World Of Blue were donated to the World Wildlife Fund’s Seastars campaign and Make You Mine was the title track of horror movie ‘De Poel’.
After a short absence from the streaming platforms, the latter song has now been re-upped and most deservedly appeared in last week’s New Music Friday playlist. Could and should be a hit as yet…
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.
