Browsing Category single track
Ellie Dixon – Space Out!
Ellie Dixon is a Cambridge-born artist and producer, who names artists like KT Tunstall, Anderson .Paak, Easy Life, Still Woozy and Duckwrth as her influences. She first generated attention with her DIY covers, which often received high praise from the original artists.
These days however, she concentrates on her own songs, which she writes and produces all by herself. She makes all of her music in her bedroom, using everyday objects like clinking glass bottles to microwave door slams and rattling pots. That way, while only in her early twenties, Dixon already created a sound distinctly her own. Funky bass lines and joyous production create great grooves for her witty lyrics and earworm melodies.
Space Out! is her latest quirky single. It combines introspection and fantasy about spending too much time in your head and feeling detached from reality. Just like her songs and the accompanying merchandise, she also made the video herself. Ellie Dixon says this about it: “It’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever made and I regret nothing.”
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.
E^ST – I Wanna Be Here
I must have missed this one some time ago, when it was released. Luckily, good music is like good wine: it gets better over time.
Early in her career, the talented Melissa Bester (a.k.a. E^ST; pronounced as ‘east’) was a support act for bands like Twenty One Pilots and Panic! At The Disco. While writing for other artists like Noah Cyrus and Nicole Millar, she also issued out her own tracks.
With over 60 million streams to her name, E^ST put out her debut album I’m Doing It on 31 July. Just ahead of it, I Wanna Be Here came out as the fifth single off the record. A poptastic, energetic song, produced by Jim Eliot (Halsey, Ellie Goulding, Kylie Minogue). It builds from a gentle piano ballad to an epic pop anthem in just under three minutes.
“I wrote this song at a really difficult time in my life, and it’s almost like I wrote the song that I needed to hear”, said E^ST. “This song is about realising that just because life feels impossible, that doesn’t mean that it is impossible… And that as long as you’re trying something, there’s always hope.”
Recommended as well:
E^ST – Maybe It’s Me
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 33):
Town Of Cats – Lemons
There are pop songs, rock tracks, dance tunes, etc. And then there are the ditties that are impossible to categorize. These are ‘genre defying’, as they say. Musical melting pots, as it were. This is one in the latter category.
But how about a short introduction to start with? Town Of Cats are from Brighton, a town that is slowly taking over from London as the musical capital of Great-Britain. Other Carte Blanche Music favourites from Brighton are Black Honey, The Magic Gang, Lime, MarthaGunn and Yonaka. As well as Fatboy Slim, The Kooks and Royal Blood, of course.
The last few years, Town Of Cats built themselves a solid reputation by ripping up festivals around their home town with their explosive cocktail of styles. Hip hop, jazz, punk, afro-beat, (prog) rock, funk … it’s all there, and more. The best reference I can think of, is a cross between Dog Eat Dog and Fishbone. Remember them? They were fantastic as well!
Lemons is Town Of Cats’ new single. With its lively rhythms, blasts of brass and guitar, a good old-fashioned sax solo, and sing-along vocals, it bursts with energy. Not the music you’re likely to hear on the radio (which is plain stupid, if you’d ask me), but you can easily imagine this band to grow into one of the huge future live bands. Can’t wait for the festival season to re-open. But way ahead of that, on 28 August, Town Of Cats release their sophomore album The Elephant’s Room.
This whole week, Carte Blanche Music combines the sweet and the sour, as Lemons is the new Wildcard. They don’t come any wilder than this!
In the Wildcards 2020 playlist you’ll 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.
Altered By Mom – Better On The Page
Setting yourself a task to release a new song every week for a whole year, doesn’t leave much room to dwell on each individual track. Not even when it’s such a great tune as last weeks Carte Blanche Music Wildcard: Altered By Mom’s Walking With The Enemy. But as predicted: the band already moved on.
This week, the Canadian duo share new song Better On The Page. And guess what? It isn’t some kind of filler, but another top track. An up-tempo song with staccato beats. The verses feature alternating vocals of Devon Lougheed and Gina Kennedy, whose voices blend beautifully in the choruses.
A project very much worth following, and you’ll end up with a great (and comprehensive) collection of songs by the end of the year.
Recommended as well:
Altered By Mom – Walking With The Enemy
Altered By Mom – Hear That Sound
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.
Oscar Lang – Get Out
20-year-old London singer-songwriter and producer Oscar Lang is on a roll. After his EP Overthunk from earlier this year, a new EP is already on its way. Entitled Hand Over Your Head, this new 7-track effort will be out on 11 September.
Following the great track Apple Juice, Get Out is the EP’s second single, with verses that bring Oasis to mind. Musically, it’s a happy song with bombastic beats, bright guitars and electronic elements. A timeless tune, in part thanks to co-producer Rich Turvey, who previously worked with Blossoms and The Coral.
Lang says about his new song: “Get Out was written in January but since then it’s taken on a whole new meaning. Originally I wrote it as a song to myself, to try and get myself outside a bit more. But now because of COVID-19, I guess the song actually applies to everyone!”
Recommended as well:
Oscar Lang – Apple Juice
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.
Päter – Sleep
Päter (which, as she explains herself, rhymes with later) is a Canadian artist, who records and produces her own music in true DIY spirit. She started her career impressively with her debut single Dam, Damn. This track, which collected almost 200.000 Spotify streams in only two months, is also included on her first EP SOLE. She describes the EP as ‘a six-song inquiry into the self’. “SOLE stands for solitude, isolation, and, well, the soul.”
Sleep is Päter’s new single. It’s an indie-rock song with beautiful vocals and an irresistibly catchy chorus. In her own words: “This is a song about feeling powerless in turbulent circumstances. Right now feels like a transitional period where the past isn’t worth returning to, and the future is full of uncertainty. Sleep grapples with that collective feeling of limbo. I wrote it on an afternoon in isolation when I gave up on using this time to be productive, and just took a long nap.”
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.
Perfect Moment – Lost In Rome
For over ten years, Alexander Gow was the front man of Aussie rock band Oh Mercy. Earlier this year however, he announced he had moved on. His new project is called Perfect Moment and has a decidedly different sound.
Gow explains: “I re-discovered my love of that strange music which is neither strictly ‘dance music’ nor ‘traditional song-writing music’ but instead, this charming third thing. (…) The writing process was the same it always has been – me at the piano with an acoustic guitar in my hand – but the execution was the difference. I sampled some kick sounds favoured by New Order and started building this music that had all the elements of my writing style but with added stylings and some useful limitations. (…) I asked Kim Moyes from The Presets to help me finish an EP. The indie musician had done enough. I needed someone that understood dance music to help me. Kim made me understand that I was on the right track. (…) The result was a much leaner, and exciting brand of my faux-dance music.”
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.
Amy Allen – Difficult
Amy Allen is a self-taught artist. She began writing songs for herself and had learned to play five instruments by the age of 10. After graduating from Berklee College Of Music, she founded rock band Amy & The Engine in New York. But her career only really took off when she co-wrote Back To You for Selena Gomez in 2018. A worldwide hit, which opened the doors to collaborations with artists like Camila Cabello, Halsey, Sam Smith and Harry Styles.
After a short but very successful time in the shadows, Amy Allen has decided to go for the spotlights herself. Following her debut single Queen Of Silver Linings, she now releases her empowering anthem Difficult. A huge future hit!
Asked by Flaunt Magazine about its title and subject matter, she replied: “If you’re a woman and you’re really fighting for your career and pursuing it and you’re putting yourself first, you’ll be seen as difficult or whatever you want to call it. That’s what that song is about, jokingly calling myself difficult because I’ve been going after what I really want. I hope it will speak to a lot of women who have felt the same way.”
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.
Liela Moss – Turn Your Back Around
After releasing her 2018 debut solo album My Name Is Safe in Your Mouth, The Duke Spirit front woman Liela Moss entered a period of self-reflection. In preparation of her sophomore album, she even spent 10 days at a silent Vipassana Meditation center. This second long-player, Who The Power, produced by partner/producer Toby Butler, has just been released.
The record opens with the self-affirming new single Turn Your Back Around. A compelling track, based upon ‘80s synths and fast-paced drums. It comes with a video where Moss twists and turns to her own track in an empty dance studio.
She explains: “As its almost game over for the planet, I’m enjoying one filthy upbeat downhearted close-your-eyes-and-dance by-yourself pop song and offering it as a parting gift to Mother Earth.”
Recommended as well:
Liela Moss – Atoms At Me
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 Vamps – Married In Vegas
In 2014, Brad Simpson, Connor Ball, Tristan Evans and James McVey released their debut album Meet The Vamps. It went multi-platinum. Since then, the band put out two more albums (and various expanded editions of each), and continuously toured. A year ago, they were halfway recording their fourth full-length album. However, they decided to scrap all of the finished tracks and start from scratch.
The songs they recorded from that point on are collected on Cherry Blossom, to be released on 16 October. This title signifies a rebirth or rejuvenation, and that’s what this album feels like for the band.
The Vamps were done recording earlier this year and sent the completed work to their label. Shortly after however, in a session that took only a few hours, they wrote Married In Vegas and added it to the album.
Built around distorted drums, a bar piano and a killer chorus, it’s a banger of a track and a great way to introduce the album.
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.
