Browsing Category single track
HÆLOS – End Of The World Party
HÆLOS is an ambitious musical project, whose sound is not easy to pigeonhole. It has many references, but the main ingredients are indie-pop and experimental dance.
The band’s second album Any Random Kindness lands on 10 May and End Of World Party is its brand-new single. A track full of old-school samples, from the hip-hop leaning breakbeat to the various screams incorporated. There’s a lot of fun production in it. In a press release, HÆLOS described the track as ‘a satirical look at disregarding the apocalyptic aspects of humanity and focusing on the now’.
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.
Bomba Estéreo & Systema Solar – Carnavalera
Bomba Estéreo and Systema Solar are two huge Colombian bands, well-known for reinterpreting their home country’s traditional sounds and starting a party wherever they perform. No need to say, then, that their one-off collaboration Carnavalera sounds like a street party anthem.
The track celebrates Carnaval season in Barranquilla, the spiritual home of the folkloric rhythm and dance known as cumbia. Their club-like take on the sounds from Colombia’s Caribbean coast can be described as electro-funk cumbia fusion.
In a press release, Bomba Estéreo’s Simón Mejía writes: “Carnaval is the consummation of all of our cultures across Colombia and Latin America. It’s a mixture of the powerful roots that intermingle among this shared musical experience without social, sexual or racial labels. This is how the world should be all the 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.
The Veronicas – Think Of Me
Think Of Me is the first single in nearly two years for Australian duo The Veronica’s. In November 2017, the pop duo were scheduled to put out their fourth album, but instead released a statement to fans saying: ‘Due to personal circumstances out of our control, we have made the decision to hold releases’. In hindsight, those circumstances involved Jessica Origliasso reconnecting with her ex-girlfriend, Aussie actress Ruby Rose. This situation created a tension with her identical twin sister Lisa Origliasso.
Fast forward to 2019: the relationship has ended and The Veronicas are back together. They describe their new single as ‘a song about the end of a toxic relationship’. Apparently, nothing happens without a reason, and at least, it produced a great electro-pop song.
The duo’s new album will be out 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.
Yonaka – Lose Our Heads
Following numerous singles and the EP’s Heavy, Teach Me To Fight, and Creature, Brighton four-piece Yonaka are ready for their full-length debut Don’t Wait ‘til Tomorrow. The album is set for release on 31 May. The band, who’ve commanded a stellar list of producers to date, including Tom Dalgety (Pixies, Royal Blood), Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys) and Rodaidh McDonald (King Krule, The xx), made the bold move to engineer and produce the album themselves.
Ahead of the record, frontwoman/songwriter Theresa Jarvis and her crew unleash the single Lose Our Heads, a track that reflects on the current generation’s dependence on technology, and dares them to experience life without it, with all its pain and heartbreak.
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.
Stefanie Heinzmann – You Get Me
Swiss singer Stefanie Heinzmann rose to fame in 2008, when she won Stefan Raab’s German TV talent show SSDSDSSWEMUGABRTLAD (which is ‘short’ for ‘Stefan sucht den Superstar, der singen soll, was er möchte, und gerne auch bei RTL auftreten darf’, meaning: ‘Stefan seeks the Superstar who shall sing what he wants and who may perform on RTL if he likes’). Since then, she released five albums, the latest of which (All We Need Is Love) came out last week.
The record closes a period where Heinzmann took some time off to re-examine if this was what she really wanted to do. After she came out of the process with a firm ‘yes!’, she recorded this new album in Sweden, London and Hamburg. It was preceded by the singles Build A House (feat. Alle Farben) and Mother’s Heart.
You Get Me is its third single. Starting off in straight pop fashion, a more soulful touch is added one minute into the song. Half a minute later, it fully bursts open, with a killer chorus, horns and all. Just when you discover you’d be perfectly happy if the tune would go on forever, it stops abruptly. Thank God for the repeat button!
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.
Moddi – Kriegspiel
Moddi is the stage name of Pål Moddi Knutsen, a progressive folk musician from Norway. I first heard about him in 2016, when he released the album Unsongs, comprising songs that had been banned throughout the world. I was especially struck by the song A Matter Of Habit, originally by Israeli singer Izhar Ashdot and at the time forbidden because of its anti-military lyrics.
Last week, Moddi released Kriegspiel. His cheeriest tune to date, which also has one of the darkest backdrops. In an Instagram post, the singer explains the song is about the former Norwegian border inspector Frode Berg, who is facing a Russian court this week, charged with attempting espionage against the Russian Navy on behalf of the Norwegian Intelligence Services. Ever since his arrest, Norwegian politicians and government officials have remained silent about the case and referred to it as ‘a consular matter’.
Moddi, however, wants to tell Frode Berg’s story and wrote this wonderful song about it. A song that needs to be heard.
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.
Wildcard (week 14):
Georgia – About Work The Dancefloor
If you follow Carte Blanche Music since it started, back in January 2017, you may remember me recommending Georgia’s singles Feel It and Started Out. If you don’t, no offence 😉
Georgia, the 27-year-old daughter of Leftfield’s Neil Barnes, started her career as a session drummer, before releasing her self-titled debut album in 2015. The singles I mentioned came out later, in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
While these two songs set the stage for Georgia, her new single might just be the track to properly launch her career. About Work The Dancefloor is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard! It sounds like the best song Robyn never wrote, and incorporates a great Kraftwerk-like synth line. Lyrically (“I was just thinking ‘bout work the dancefloor”) it has a grammatical construction that’s so awkward, it can’t help but get stuck in your head.
“About Work The Dancefloor is a song written in response to the clubbing culture I experienced in cities whilst touring,” Georgia said in a statement. “Going out and getting that emotion or sensation from a collective energy in various spaces. It’s that stuff of old school disco, the thrill of the dance floor.”
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.
Papooz – Theatrical State Of Mind
Armand Penicaut & Ulysse Cottin (a.k.a. Papooz) met whilst studying Literature at the Sorbonne university in their home city of Paris. The duo began working on demos of weird pop, inspired by artists as diverse as The Beach Boys, Ella Fitzgerald, and The White Stripes. These demos went on to become their debut album Green Juice.
A few weeks ago, Papooz released their second full-length, Night Sketches. Theatrical State Of Mind is the new single off it. The video pitches the track’s languid disco groove against a surreal dream that Armand had about his bandmate Ulysse. They ‘explain’: “Ulysse le Sévère, the blood thirsty King of Burgundy, invites a couple of twin minstrels to play music in his castle. Just when you think you’re safe… you’re in more danger! A french tale of revenge, lust and forgiveness.”
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.
Self Esteem – Girl Crush
Far too often, when an ‘indie’ artist decides to throw in a pinch of ‘pop’, they are looked down upon, even by their own fans. As if music by independent minds can’t sound poppy, or as if pop and indie are two extremes of a musical spectrum. If that’s your thought exactly, don’t read on. If you’re less narrow-minded, allow me to introduce you to Self Esteem.
Self Esteem is the latest musical project of Rebecca Lucy Taylor, who used to be in the band Slow Club. Girl Crush is the new single off her solo debut album Compliments Please. An ambitious song that includes strings and a flute amidst poppy beats. Lyrically, the track is a reaction to the term itself. Taylor explains: “It should just be known as a crush. This isn’t a ground-breaking gender and sexuality statement, it’s just common sense. Women aren’t a fun new cool thing for straight women to try. (…) It’s a difficult thing to talk about but it’s something I can make a banging pop song about.”
Commercial, but uncompromising.
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.
Charly Bliss – Chatroom
Although indebted to the catchy alt-rock of ’90s bands like Weezer and Veruca Salt, Charly Bliss produce pop music. Pop music with an edge, that is.
Singer/guitarist Eva Hendricks and guitarist Spencer Fox met as high school students in Westport, Connecticut. After starting out as a cover band, they soon enlisted Eva’s brother Sam Hendricks to play drums and Dan Shure to play bass. Their first offerings, like EP A Lot To Say and debut album Guppy, were full of grungy rock. However, for their next album (Young Enough, 19 May), they shifted the balance toward pop.
New single Chatroom is a great example of their new approach, combining an energetic delivery with memorable melodies and meaningful lyrics. This song, for instance, deals with Hendricks’ unjust feeling of guilt after suffering sexual abuse.
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.
