Browsing Category single track
Twin Peaks – Dance Through It
In the early ‘90s, I was a huge fan of Twins Peaks, the TV series by David Lynch. Some 20 years later, I started being a huge fan of Twin Peaks, the band from Chicago. Their latest studio album dates back to 2016, but the group will release their fourth full length, Lookout Low, in September. It has been produced by Ethan Johns (Kings Of Leon, Ryan Adams and Counting Crows, among many others).
Dance Through It, one of Twin Peaks’ smoothest and sultry tracks yet, is the album’s first single. It is said to have started off as a demo that sounded like a Sheryl Crow song, but along the way, it grew into a tune with a soulful vibe. It fully comes to life in the final minute, when a few more horns inject some extra spirit.
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.
Charli XCX feat. Christine & The Queens – Gone
When two pop powerhouses join forces, what can go wrong? Well, quite a lot in fact, but in this case, it works out brilliantly. The audience first witnessed this collaboration when Christine & The Queens singer Héloïse Letissier joined Charli XCX during her show at the Primavera Sound festival. The studio version is out now.
Gone is a song with ‘pop’ written all over it. Its pulsating rhythms are built with ’80s drums and ’90s synths, but still manage to have a futuristic sound. Charli XCX reveals: “This song is about feeling isolated and alone in crowded rooms, the feelings of anxiety and learning to be comfortable with who you truly are. It’s about breaking down and breaking free. It feels like one big external scream.”
Her third studio album Charli, out in September, is bound to be a star studded affair of Ed Sheeran-like proportions. You have been warned…
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.
Bishop Briggs – Champion
Inspired by her parents’ hometown, Bishopbriggs, in Scotland, Sarah Grace McLaughlin uses Bishop Briggs as her stage name. At age four, she moved with her parents to Tokyo and later to Hong Kong. She was 18 when she moved to Los Angeles, to start her musical career.
Her 2018 debut album Church Of Scars was partly a ‘best of’ of the singles she released previously. That same year, she put out the brand-new song Baby. Now, the follow-up single Champion is here. Co-written by recent Carte Blanche Music favourite K.Flay, it’s exactly what the title promises.
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 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. Soon, she started translating their inspiration into her own songs, which are disarmingly honest, and stripped back in style.
About her new single Over You, Lily Moore 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.
