Browsing Category soundtrack
Lizzo – Good As Hell
Lizzo is becoming more and more of a phenomenon. Correction: Lizzo is a phenomenon. To such an extent, that even her older songs belatedly prove to be hits. Melissa Jefferson (the 31-year-old American singer and rapper’s real name) is currently #1 in the Billboard Hot 100 with Truth Hurts, a song originally released in 2016. But another song from that same year is doing great as well.
Following her performance at the MTV Music Video Awards, Good As Hell is climbing up the Billboard charts. It was originally recorded for the soundtrack of the movie ‘Barbershop: The Next Cut’, and served as the lead single from her debut EP Coconut Oil. Do yourself a favour and also check the track Worship off that EP.
Despite not being on Lizzo’s recent album Cuz I Love You (not even on the Deluxe Edition), Good As Hell is about to be re-released worldwide as her new single. A great choice, for the tune totally lives up to its title.
Recommended as well:
Lizzo (feat. Gucci Mane) – Exactly How I Feel
Lizzo – Juice
Lizzo – Boys
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.
Nouvelle Vague feat. Julie Delpy – Lalala
Nouvelle Vague is a French band, with musicians Olivier Libaux and Marc Collin as its constant factors. They surround themselves with a large rotating cast of mostly female vocalists. Some of them (like Camille, Phoebe Kildeer and Liset Alea) have also had successful solo careers, while Élodie Frégé is currently part of super group Gemme.
The outfit is best known for their bossa nova covers of new wave classics. That’s why the band name is appropriate in more ways than one. Nouvelle Vague is French for ‘new wave’, just like ‘bossa nova’ is Portuguese for ‘new wave’.
Julie Delphy is a French singer-songwriter, actress, director and screenwriter. In 2007, she produced the movie ‘2 Days In Paris’. She not only also starred in the film, she composed the soundtrack as well. She co-wrote one of the tracks, Lalala, with Marc Collin. It’s no cover, but an original song with a retro ‘60s sound and a beat you can’t help but dance to.
Although this bi-lingual tune is 12 years old, it has only just been made available on the streaming platforms. So let’s just pretend it’s brand-new, shall we?
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.
Sofía Ellar – La Revolución
Following the success of the Angry Birds games, the spin-off movie became a hit as well. You won’t be surprised then, to learn that a second Angry Birds flick can be watched in theatres as off 23 August.
The game’s (and film’s) soundtrack are in part responsible for the franchise’s triumphant reception. It’s a clever mix of classics and a few new songs. During ‘Angry Birds 2’, you can expect to sing along to tunes by Vanilla Ice, Bonnie Tyler, 2 Unlimited, Survivor, Minnie Riperton, David Bowie and Lionel Richie. Yes, it’s that diverse. As far as the new songs go, you’re already familiar with Kesha’s Best Day.
In the larger musical markets, the movie soundtrack will also contain tracks by local artists. The best I’ve heard so far, is La Revolución by Sofía Ellar. Álvaro Soler’s girlfriend provides the ‘Angry Birds 2’ theme song in Spain. A wonderful sing-along tune (if you speak Spanish, that is), with a very summery vibe. Lucky for us, Spotify, YouTube etc. are worldwide platforms, so you can also enjoy this wonderful track outside Spain.
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.
Kesha – Best Day [Angry Birds 2 Remix]
Kesha has some terrible years behind her. No need to explain that, I guess. But judging from the title of her new single, her Best Day has now come. “I’m feelin’ so nice / I ain’t got no negative energy / High fives and good vibes / Wrote this one for all my friends / And enemies”, she sings.
In a statement, Kesha said: “I wanted to write a song that would make people feel GOOD. Life can be hard sometimes, and I wanted to write something to listen to in the morning to remind myself to be happy, grateful, positive and remember that I can choose to have the best day of my life (of my life, of my life). Every day. I also think high fives are great and would like to promote high fives whenever possible.”
Best Day is a bouncy tune, with plenty of finger snaps and funky plucked bass. Meanwhile, her vocals are being dubbed so often, it sounds like a whole choir.
Featured on the ‘Angry Birds 2’ soundtrack, Best Day isn’t the first song Kesha wrote for a movie. 2017’s This Is Me (from ‘The Greatest Showman’) and 2018’s Here Comes The Change (from ‘On The Basis Of Sex‘) are other recent examples.
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.
Elliphant – To The End
With three previous album releases and a number of features during 2018, it is now time for Elliphant to release her new single To The End. A bold synth-pop song, heavily influenced by rock, where the Swedish singer (born Ellinor Olovsdotter) mixes genres and seamlessly makes them her own.
The song is featured in the critically acclaimed box-office movie ‘Spiderman – Into The Spiderverse’ where it introduces the new bad-ass character Spider-Gwen.
Expect even more fresh girl-power music from Elliphant during 2019.
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 5):
Dua Lipa – Swan Song
I’ve got a weak spot for Dua Lipa. In my then radio show, I pronounced her ‘princess of pop’, the first time I played her first official single Be The One in 2015. For me, it’s still one of the best pop singles of this decennium.
In the years that followed, she released a self-titled debut album that spawned 8 commercial singles and a further 3 promotional singles. Also, she was the featured singer on hits by Sean Paul, Martin Garrix, Calvin Harris and Silk City. All of those tracks are present on the Complete Edition of her long-player, effectively making it her first Greatest Hits album. In the meantime, her live shows grew bigger, bolder and better. Dua Lipa is the full package.
Moving on to the next stage of her career, the singer just released a brand-new track. Swan Song is the title song of the forthcoming movie ‘Alita: Battle Angel’. Just like the movie, the video for the song takes place in a futuristic dystopia.
There is a Dutch touch to Swan Song: musician, composer and producer Tom Holkenborg (a.k.a. Junkie XL) wrote the full soundtrack to the movie. By consequence, he is also involved in this great single, which is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard.
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.
Ana & The Changes feat. Dan Byron – Take My Hand
Ana Ćurčin is a singer-songwriter born in Baghdad, raised in Moscow and based in Belgrade, Serbia. She and her band The Changes (Goran Antović – keyboards, Marko Cvetković – bass and Marko Benini – drums) surprised me live at Eurosonic Noorderslag last January. Following up on 2016’s album Sketches Of Belonging, the quartet release their second album Differences in the Spring of 2019.
Its first single is called Take My Hand. The almost unrecognizable original version was written by Igor Simic and Ana Ćurčin for the soundtrack Radio Nostalgia From Mars of the video game Golf Club Wasteland. It has now been re-recorded, featuring Dan Byron, a Romanian singer-songwriter and frontman of the alternative rock band Byron. This new version has a driving, Coldplay-like piano part, which makes it a great radio track.
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.
Sir Notch – Gimme That Sunshine
Sir Notch is one of the aliases of Dutch singer-songwriter/producer Christon Kloosterboer, who has been working with Hardwell, Sam Feldt and Dash Berlin, and recently co-wrote Go For The Gold by Rudenko & Aloe Blacc.
After tracks like Please Don’t Go and Depth Of My Mistakes (feat. Steffen Morrison), Gimme That Sunshine is his latest single under the Sir Notch guise, released on his own Exquisite label. An uplifting song with C2C-like scratching vocal effects, that’s equal parts jazz, gospel and soul, and has a great summer vibe.
The tune was written to accompany a television commercial for juice brand Appelsientje, but the music alone is utterly refreshening as well. Taste it below via the streaming platform of your liking. Sure to put a smile(y) on your face!
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 27):
Carlos Jean feat. Teyou & Annya – Yucatán
Carlos Jean is currently one of Spain’s most successful artists, both as a producer/remixer of other peoples’ work and as an artist himself. From 1998-2010 he was half of the duo Najwajean (with actress/singer Najwa Nimri) and since 2011 he is active as a solo artist under his own name.
His new single Yucatán, featuring Spanish singer Teyou and electric violin player Annya, sounds like a potential summer hit to me. The song, the title track for a new Spanish comedy that comes to the theatres on 31 August, was taped and mixed in the same Abbey Road studio The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Queen recorded in. Yucatán is a tropical mix of musical styles, and includes – mind you! – real handclaps 😉.
Please, clap your hands for Yucatán by Carlos Jean feat. Teyou & Annya; it features prominently on this blog for a week as the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard (all of which can be found in the Wildcards 2018 playlist).
Mambo No. 6!
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.
Betty Who – All Things
On 15 June, Netflix will globally roll out Season 2 of its series ‘Queer Eye’. The first series only premiered in February 2018, but was an instant hit. Just like the original version of the series, back in 2003.
For this second instalment of the Netflix version, Australia-born and Los Angeles-based pop star Betty Who revamped the ‘Queer Eye’ theme song, which was originally performed by Widefire feat. Simone Denny.
Betty Who’s version clocks in at 1’44. It doesn’t happen often I wished a song lasted double its 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.
