The times you could (very) roughly say: ‘pop comes from Britain, rock from the United States’ are far behind us. On the contrary: the most interesting developments in British music are based in rock (although they have yet to translate into the charts, for what that’s worth). You can find numerous good examples of this on Carte Blanche Music. Let me give you another one…

19-year-old Connar Ridd (vocals, guitar) goes by the name of Freak and has already been described as a ‘one-man Nirvana’. But he probably likes Arctic Monkeys as well. And he went to the same school as Rat Boy, who uses the same kind of rap-rock to express himself.

No Money is Freak’s new single.

Werner Schlosser

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.