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Wildcard (week 45):
Halie – Good Kids

November 6th, 2019

Now that Sigrid and Aurora have been embraced by worldwide audiences, Norway’s next superstar is ready for take-off. Hannah Emilie Grung is only 18 years old and off to a great future. Her 2018 single Youth already attracted over 1 million listeners on Spotify alone.

Halie used a short radio silence to finish school and write some new songs. The first of this bunch is out now. Good Kids sounds more mature and edgy than her earlier work. Imagine a combination of Charli XCX and early Lorde. Over a bed of thumping beats, Halie sings about everyday teen issues. A message that sticks, since the singer is only a teen herself.

Good Kids is the first single off her upcoming debut EP, and this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!

In the Wildcards 2019 playlist you can find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.

single track

Clara Luciani – Ma Soeur

November 5th, 2019

22 November, talented French singer Clara Luciani re-releases her debut album Sainte Victoire for the second time. This ‘super edition’ contains five additional tracks.

One of them is Ma Soeur, a funky pop song, produced by Yuksek. As you might have guessed from its title, Ma Soeur is an ode to her older sister, Lea. Performing as Ehla, she recently released her own single Cool.

Recommended as well:
Clara Luciani – La Grenade

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

disco | funk | indie | pop

single track

Field Music – Only In A Man’s World

November 5th, 2019

Only In A Man’s World is Field Music’s first new music since their 2018 album Open Here. The single sets the stage for the band’s tenth album Making A New World, which arrives 10 January 2020. The long-player grew out of a project they undertook for the Imperial War Museum. Thematically, it’s about the after-effects of the First World War. Lyrically, however, it isn’t about war itself or remembrance. Believe it or not, the single is about sanitary towels.

David Brewis explains: “I found myself researching the development of sanitary pads – not a statement I’ve ever imagined myself making – and was surprised at how little the advertising material has changed in a hundred years. It’s still, Hey Ladies! Let’s not mention it too loudly but here is the perfect product to keep you feeling normal WHILE THE DISGUSTING, DIRTY THING HAPPENS. And you realise that it’s a kind of madness that a monthly occurrence for billions of women – something absolutely necessary for the survival of humanity – is seen as shameful or dirty – and is taxed MORE than razor blades?!”

If you’re more into how it sounds than the lyrical subject, you’ll be delighted to hear this could have been a Talking Heads song. At least, I was.

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

indie | pop

single track

Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now

November 4th, 2019

I think Dua Lipa’s single Be The One is one of the best pop songs of this decennium. Ever since I was one of the first to play it, she’s been a fixture in my Carte Blanche radio show and on this blog. In the meantime, she’s gone on to become one of the most popular female solo artists in the world. Her eponymous debut album (which spawned no less than 11 singles) is the most streamed album by a female artist in Spotify’s history. Also, she is the youngest female artist ever to attract 1 billion views on YouTube.

Now, exactly four years after the release of Be The One, Dua Lipa is back with another banger. It may be called Don’t Start Now, but it certainly is the start of a new era, with a new musical direction. Her second album will feature more live instruments (rather than electronica). On top of that, she collaborated with the likes of Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers.

The influence of the Chic frontman is very clear on Don’t Start Now, although he doesn’t appear in the credits. Nevertheless, the song is a funky nu disco anthem with ‘Nile Rodgers’ written all over it. Dua Lipa explains: “I chose to put this song out first so I could close one chapter of my life and start another. Into a new era with a new sound! It’s about moving on and not allowing anyone to get in the way of that. It also felt like a natural first song choice as I made it with the brilliant same crew I made New Rules with.”

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

disco | funk | pop

werner's weekly

Werner’s Weekly (week 45)

November 4th, 2019

This is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:

Palaye Royale – Hang On To Yourself (Wildcard this week)
Lizzo & Ariana Grande – Good As Hell [Remix] (Wildcard last week)
Barrie – Drag
Hayley Mary – The Piss, The Perfume
Inge van Calkar – Get Out Of My Way
Therapie Taxi – Candide Crush
Zola – Crystal Floors

Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player below.

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: Ariana Grande (with Chaka Khan), Haim, Pixies, The Script, and many more.

single track

Therapie Taxi – Candide Crush

November 1st, 2019

Therapie Taxi are very popular in their native France. They sold 170.000 pieces of their debut album Hit Sale, attracted 250.000 visitors to circa 100 live shows, and achieved 300 million streams and views of their songs.

They’re also a prolific band. They quickly followed their successful debut album with an ‘extended version’, containing 10 extra tracks. But since then, they’ve already started releasing brand-new songs. The single Egotrip, only a few weeks ago, and now their next offering Candide Crush. A song as colourful as the Candy Crush game.

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

electronic | pop

chart

Your favourites (October 2019)

November 1st, 2019

I love it when a plan comes together… As announced, I was on holiday in October. By consequence, I haven’t been able to add new recommendations to the blog until this week. Despite that, the monthly figures show hardly any dip. As I had hoped, you found your way to the Carte Blanche Music archive. Great to see the ‘long tail’ principle also applies to blogs. To this one, at least…

Nevertheless, the Top 10 of articles you read the most in October is in line with earlier round-ups. Roi by Videoclub is still by far the most popular song among you. By far. Its follow-up, former Wildcard En Nuit, is in the list as well this month. Your open-mindedness towards great new music really showed in October, as you gave Rick Astley a warm welcome in terms of views. 30 Years after his Stock Aitken Waterman produced worldwide hits, he still proves relevant in 2019.

Pretty much all of the rest of the Top 10 is exclusive Carte Blanche Music material. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I haven’t heard any of these tracks on any radio station outside the artists’ home country. I’m confident that is one of the success factors of this blog. Thanks for your confidence!

Your full Top 10 of favourite recommendations in October is below. Since I’ve continued to add new tracks to my 2019 container playlist Carte Blanche Music during my holiday, my Spotify list has by now expanded to circa 865 songs. If you wish to follow it, please click here.

^(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard

single track

Zola – Crystal Floors

October 31st, 2019

How do you mix genres and languages within a song, while avoiding that it sounds like a mess? Singer-songwriter Zola Johnson, from San Francisco, has the formula. Just listen to her new single Crystal Floors. It’s an indie pop song, adding jazzy elements and bossa nova rhythms. On top of that, she smoothly alternates between English and French (in a rare case of French lyrics sung by an American artist really sounding like French).

Zola explains: “I wanted to create this character of myself; mischievous and mysterious. (…) Switching to French helped emphasize the mysterious aspect of the song. It gives a dramatic and cinematic effect which is the vibe I was going for.”

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

indie | jazz | pop | tropical

single track

Sex Machine Octopus – I Know

October 31st, 2019

Laurent Boland (vocals, guitar), Oliver Cohen-Daigle (bass), Samuel Morissette (drums) and Georges Gagnon (guitar) are all from Montreal. They met in high school in 2015, where they formed Sex Machine Octopus. Since their first EP Fish In The Sea (2016), they have worked on their debut full-length Plastic Scenes.

During the making of this album, the band’s music style shifted from soulful indie folk to punchy, groovy alternative rock. Both styles are represented on the record, making it an eclectic bunch of songs.

One of the nine tracks on Plastic Scenes is the Canadian outfit’s new single I Know. The band say about it: “With I Know, we took one of our older, less mature songs we had written in high school and exchanged the sad, bluesy ballad parts of it for something way more groovy and badass. It’s still a love song in every way but now it feels fresher and a lot more like summer than previous versions. Honestly, we just want people to have fun with this one. It was one of our first tries as well to push the band into a much more groovy and fun universe.”

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

indie | pop | rock

single track

Inge van Calkar – Get Out Of My Way

October 30th, 2019

Inge van Calkar, a Dutch songstress from the northern town of Groningen, has beefed up her already impressive electropop sound. She wrote her new single with two of the Netherlands’ most talented songwriters: Radboud Miedema and Gordon Groothedde. The latter produced the song as well.

Get Out Of My Way is about being too modest for your own good. “I have stood in line for too long, waiting for my turn to come. That’s outrageous,” says Van Calkar. Sounding rather irritated in the chorus: ‘Get Out Of My Way, Liar!’, she is angry with anyone who wants to stop her. “But just as well I’m angry with myself, because I was waiting,” she admits.

Luckily, this frustration results in a great pop song with a pounding electro synth riff. It deserves to become just as big a radio hit as her most recent single Touchdown. Both track are taken from Inge van Calkar’s upcoming EP Full Color.

Recommended as well:
Inge van Calkar – Imaginary

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

electronic | indie | pop

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Wildcard (week 45):
Halie – Good Kids

Clara Luciani – Ma Soeur

Field Music – Only In A Man’s World

Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now

Werner’s Weekly (week 45)

Therapie Taxi – Candide Crush

Your favourites (October 2019)

Zola – Crystal Floors

Sex Machine Octopus – I Know

Inge van Calkar – Get Out Of My Way

Wildcard (week 45)

Werner’s Weekly (week 46)

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Wildcard (week 45)

Werner’s Weekly (week 46)

Spotify playlist

Social Media

Subscribe via email

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