Browsing Category single track
You Me At Six – What’s It Like
You Me At Six’s latest album VI was quite a sonic departure from… well, anything you had heard from the band before. A great experiment as far as I’m concerned, which spawned some of their best songs to date. Now, they go even further…
What’s It Like is the quintet’s first new song since last year. This time, they add trap/hip hop influences to the electronic rock sound they developed last year. If that sounds deliciously kaleidoscopic on paper, just click the link of your choice below. You’ll hear it’s even better!
Frontman Josh Franceschi explains the song is the band ‘flexing their creative muscles’. “Combining our favourite genres and bringing them together in one track. For me lyrically, it’s looking at our society in parts in 2019. I definitely feel as though we are living in a time where we’ve lost our way a little bit. There are great innovators and pioneers which we can rely on, but there is also a feeling of the blind leading the blind and a lack of humility present. Within the title and the chorus I sort of poke fun at those who are libertines or self serving – ‘What’s it like being perfect all the time?’ Life’s not a competition, but people have a tendency to play it out that way.”
Recommended as well:
You Me At Six – Back Again
You Me At Six – 3AM
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.
Caravan Palace – Supersonics
Arnaud Vial, Charles Delaporte and Hugues Payen first met in 2005. They were asked by a movie production company to write music for a porn film set in the 1950s. Not much later, they decided to form Caravan Palace. The band produce, what they call, ‘electro swing’; a style that mixes jazz and electronic music.
30 August, Caravan Palace release their fourth album Chronologic. Earlier this year, it was preceded by the singles Miracle, About You (feat. Charles X), and Plume. New single Supersonics is out now as well. Immediately recognizable, but with added elements that appear to be influenced by the euro house sound of the early ‘90s.
Recommended as well:
Caravan Palace – Black Betty
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.
Enter Shikari – Stop The Clocks
Following their most recent album The Spark (2017), Enter Shikari toured a lot. Enough to release not one, but two live albums this year. Toward the end of 2018, the band added the song Stop The Clocks to their live sets. A great track, more poppy than the band ever sounded before.
A brand-new studio version of Stop The Clocks is Enter Shikari’s new single. This catchy, up-beat song begins with glitchy keys and features Queen-like vocal bursts. Lyrically, it’s about ‘the joys of human connection’.
Frontman Rou Reynolds explains: “When someone is open and honest about their vulnerabilities, others can connect with them, and then all of us can feel stronger and more comfortable. It conveys the relief, warmth and freeing nature of the normalization of mental health struggles following decades of stigmatism. A flickering flame of positivity in these difficult and regressive times.”
Recommended as well:
Enter Shikari – The Sights
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.
Indigo – Guadeloupe
London-based quartet Indigo aimed high with their debut single Distant Lullaby. A fabulous pop song, a Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, but not the ‘future summer hit’ I predicted. Now, it’s time for a second chance…
New single Guadeloupe is an eclectic affair. Just what you’d expect from a band citing Radiohead, Kendrick Lamar, The Smiths, Amy Winehouse, Aphex Twin, David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Chic (and many more) as their influences. It’s a funny and very diverse track, with all kinds of vocal effects. They range from simply wonderful harmony vocals to echoing backings and pitched voices. All of this adds a spacey feel to the tune. Also check the wicked instrumental break.
Recommended as well:
Indigo – Distant Lullaby
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.
Tom Sail – Wounded
The haunting opening tones of Tom Sail’s second single Wounded remind me of Jamaica’s I Think I Like U 2. Not because they sound the same, but because both are fun, up-beat, indie-pop songs with a retro feel.
Sail played every instrument on Wounded himself. “I come from a very musical family, and taught myself to play since I was 10 years old,” he says. “Some of the ideas for my music were generated during a six-month trip through South-East Asia, Australia and America and written in the back of a camper van on a tiny guitar I bought in Vietnam.”
He’s currently working on a 12-song album to be released later this year. Expect echoes of The Beatles, The War on Drugs, Oasis and Motown in Sail’s music. Asked by indie-music.co to describe his upcoming album in five words, he answered: “Retro. Melancholic. Hopeful. Dreamy. Pensive.”
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 34):
Nicolah – Holiday
Nicolah is a Cumbrian singer-songwriter, based in London. Her music is a sum of fresh life experiences about faith, sexuality, and culture. She explains: “I often see life from 2 sides of the same coin, and I battle with these sides in my head. What I have to come back to is hope.”
Her new single Holiday is the third release in a 3-track series, developing the concepts of reflection, refraction and dispersion. It was preceded by Waiting On You and Out Of The Pie. Inspired by everyone from Bruce Hornsby and Paramore to The Beatles, to me, Holiday sounds like a great mix of Jade Bird and early Melissa Etheridge. A song with ‘summer smash’ written all over it.
For starters, Holiday by Nicolah is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. This means it will feature here prominently for a whole week!
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.
Sarpa Salpa – Before It Goes Dark
Sarpa Salpa are a 4-piece alt-pop band from Northampton. George (guitar), Marcus (vocals/guitar), Ethan (bass) and Charlie (drums) take their influences from Foals, Tame Impala and Friendly Fires. Apparently, they’re not afraid to raise high expectations. Even better: they don’t disappoint.
Their first two, independently released, singles were met with praise, airplay and packed shows. Now, they’re now working on their debut EP, which is due out at the end of the year. Before It Goes Dark is the band’s new single. A mid-tempo, yet danceable track. It tackles the frustration of not being able to stop the inevitable. On top of that, it proves parlandos don’t have to be daft.
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.
Phantogram – Mister Impossible
In 2007, Josh Carter (vocals, guitar) and Sarah Barthel (vocals, keyboards) started the band Charlie Everywhere. But it wasn’t until they changed the band name to Phantogram that success fell their way. Their debut album Eyelid Movies came out in 2009, but its follow-up meant their break-through. Second long-player Voices contained the single Fall In Love, which was a worldwide hit. The same goes for You Don’t Get Me High Anymore, off 2016 album Three.
After a few rather quiet years, Phantogram speeded things up recently. Late May, they returned with Into Happiness, and Mister Impossible out now. Looks like a fourth album is on its way…
Mister Impossible is a self-written and -produced tune with a certain suspense to it. This is imposed by a booming beat and stretched-out synth bursts. In the bridge of the song, the vocal melody is doubled with a keyboard melody, which adds a sense of urgency. Great comeback!
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.
Nasty Cherry – Live Forever
Charli XCX is ready to release her third album in less than a month. But besides that, she’s helping her protégés of Nasty Cherry launch their career. The band consists of model Gabriella Bechtel (vocals), Chloe Chaidez of the band Kitten (guitar), Georgia Somary (bass), and Deborah Knox-Hewson (Charli’s drummer). Half of them living in London and half of them residing in Los Angeles, this is not the best example of a logistic success story. However, when they come together to write, there is instant chemistry.
Nasty Cherry just released their third single, Live Forever. Once again co-written by Charli XCX, it’s a song where the loud drums and catchy chorus stand out. Live Forever follows the quartet’s awesome debut single Win and What Do You Like In Me.
Recommended as well:
Nasty Cherry – Win
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.
Son Mieux – Nothing
Dutch band Son Mieux (‘his best’ in French) is formed by The Hague brothers Camiel, Wrister and Quinten Meiresonne. Their debut album Faire De Son Mieux (including the single Everyday) was loaded with compliments. Rightfully so!
New single Nothing is arguably the long-player’s most beautiful track. That’s not only my opinion, it’s a real crowd-pleaser during their live shows. The song consists of three parts, each with its own theme: the ambition to be in contact with yourself and your surroundings, the desire to be able to express one’s emotions, and self-realization. The band asked young film makers Philine van den Hul, Robin Piree and Max Westendorp to visualize their views of these themes. Together, these three interpretations form the song’s beautiful video.
Recommended as well:
Son Mieux – Everyday
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.
