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Since releasing his debut album El Dorado in early 2017, Spanish singer-songwriter Gizmo Varillas received praise from Yoko Ono, opened up for Jack Savoretti and was added to George Ezra’s Spotify playlist. Varillas’ mix of folky pop, tropical instrumentation, and Latin and Afrobeat rhythms make for an overall happy sound. But don’t be mistaken, in some cases this contrasts with sad lyrics.

His new single however, has a message of hope. In Gizmo’s own words, Born Again is ‘about personal transformation, changing from within and giving yourself the chance to start over’. “Even if we reach our lowest point, we can always rise up again. And in many ways, it’s about never giving up and empowering yourself to go on.”

Born Again is the third single off Varillas’ upcoming album Out Of The Darkness (out on 5 June). It’s also featured in the BBC’s brand-new series ‘Alabama’. The song’s chorus has a slight resemblance with XXL by Mylène Farmer, of whom I’m a big fan as well.

This week, Born Again by Gizmo Varillas is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. As a result, it’ll feature prominently at the top of this blog for a whole week.

Recommended as well:
Gizmo Varillas – Losing You

In the Wildcards 2020 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.

werner's weekly

Werner’s Weekly (week 21)

May 18th, 2020

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:

Bloxx – Lie Out Loud (Wildcard this week)
Shade – Morningmaker (Wildcard last week)
Boniface – It’s A Joke
Demi Lovato (feat. Travis Barker) – I Love Me [Emo Version]
Kailee Morgue – This Is Why I’m Hot
The Academic – Anything Could Happen
Videoclub – Enfance 80

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: Alma, Nek, Sofie Tukker & Gorgon City, and many more.

single track

X Ambassadors with K.Flay & grandson – Zen

May 16th, 2020

In times of Corona, some artists decide to postpone their work. Others get increasingly productive. And in more and more cases, the latter leads to interesting collaborations, with everyone working from their own homes. This is a fine example.

Zen was written virtually. K.Flay and grandson recorded a verse each, and X Ambassadors worked on the final production. The lyrics are about all the thoughts and anxiety someone can face during isolation.

The track comes with a music video directed by K.Flay. Instead of simply the song’s lyrics, it includes explanations on why each artist needs to ‘zen’.

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

hip hop | pop | rock

single track

Paradise Club – All You Got

May 16th, 2020

After five self-released singles, Adelaide band Paradise Club found themselves a label they can call home. New single All You Got, their sixth, is their first as part of the Farmer & The Owl roster. Hockey Dad are part of their new family as well.

On 17 July, the label releases Paradise Club’s self-titled debut album. All You Got is the band’s new single, a sophisticatedly produced track for fans of The 1975. Incredible, how that band created a sound so recognizable, which found such wide-spread following.

In a press release, Paradise Club frontman Gere Russ noted All You Got was written following a tumultuous period in his life. “At the end of 2018, I learnt about some family stuff that was going on”, he said. “At the start of 2019, a close friend passed away. A month later, my dog died. It was one of the worst times of my life, but I learnt a lot from what had happened. The song is about that period of my life, how I should never take the time I have with people for granted, and how thankful I am to have a supportive network of family and friends.”

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

indie | pop

single track

Izzy Bizu – Faded

May 16th, 2020

After her 2016 debut album A Moment Of Madness, it took Izzy Bizu three years to produce its follow-up, the Glita EP. By the looks of it, we won’t have to wait that long for her sophomore long-player. Last week, she confirmed on socials that Faded is the first single from her long-awaited second album.

On Twitter, she writes of the single: “It’s about throwing everything you have at your last hours with someone you love, saying sometimes it’s best to leave a situation before it burns out and becomes ugly. We’ve all been there before.”

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

pop

single track

Washington – Dark Parts

May 16th, 2020

Born in Papua New Guinea, Megan Alexanda Washington is an Australia based artist. And a very versatile one as such. Starting as a jazz vocalist, her style gradually shifted to indie pop-rock. In recent years, she also did TED Talks and lent her voice to a cartoon character.

But now, she’s back at what she does best: music. 28 August, her new album will see the light. Dark Parts is the first single off it. A great pop track, but not too easy to dance to, with its ⅞ rhythm. I love the orchestral hits, which add an ‘80s flavour to the modern production. The track was co-produced by Sam Dixon (Sia, Adele) and Konstantin Kersting (The Jungle Giants, Tones and I). The music video was hand drawn by Washington herself, featuring various animated characters from the track in a vertical format.

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

electronic | pop

single track

Moby Rich & Bishop Briggs – Friends*

May 16th, 2020

Maxwell Joseph and Connor Pledger are Los Angeles-based alt-pop duo Moby Rich. On their new single, they collaborate with Bishop Briggs. She featured here multiple times before. Their very first meeting resulted in them writing Friends* together.

It’s a dynamic duet, perfect for anybody yearning to make an escape from the friendzone. Their voices go back and forth between bass-heavy production, distorted guitars and emotionally charged screams. It culminates on an infectious chorus, “I hate that I want to be more than friends. Sometimes, losing friends is alright.”

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

pop | rock

single track

Phantom Planet – Only One

May 16th, 2020

LA alt-rock band Phantom Planet is best known for its track California. It became a huge hit in 2001 after becoming the theme song for the TV series ‘The O.C.’. Five years later, frontman Alex Greenwald was the featured singer on Mark Ronson’s cover of Just by Radiohead. In 2008, Phantom Planet announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus.

Good news: the hiatus is over. Later this summer, the band will return with their first album in over a decade: Devastator. Four tracks off the album have thus far been released. Only One is their latest single. According to Greenwald, the song is meant to help momentarily ease folks’ pandemic anxieties. “This song is about pondering infinity and wondering how many people here are in the same boat”, he explained in a statement. “Loneliness can kill you,” he added, “so I wanted to create a song where listeners could sing along together to move past such a feeling.”

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

indie | pop | rock

single track

May-a – Green

May 16th, 2020

18-year-old Maya Cumming is born in Byron, Australia, but currently based in Sydney. She writes her stage name as ‘May-a’ to point out the correct pronunciation to people who pronounce her name as ‘Myah’. Only three singles into her career, she’s already proven that she’s a song-writing force to be reckoned with.

About her new single, she says: “Green is an outlook on the way that validation fuels the way we live, especially in green teens. Young, impressionable and desperate to be accepted by people they don’t even like. I wrote it when I was 15 and bored by the hierarchy of high school. It paints a picture of the things that teenagers think are important until they realise they aren’t.”

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

indie | pop

single track

The Rehats – Nothing But The Truth

May 16th, 2020

The Rehats are a young band from Freiburg in Germany. They have only released three singles so far, all of which will be on their debut album. This first long-player, Nothing But The Truth, is due out later this month. It was produced by award-winning producer Wolfgang Stach. He worked with many top German bands before, with multiple gold and platinum success.

The record’s title track, Nothing But The Truth, is The Rehats’ new single. Feel-good indie pop with smooth harmony vocals, which sounds like a slightly folkier version of The Kooks.

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

folk | indie | pop

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Wildcard (week 21):
Gizmo Varillas – Born Again

Werner’s Weekly (week 21)

X Ambassadors with K.Flay & grandson – Zen

Paradise Club – All You Got

Izzy Bizu – Faded

Washington – Dark Parts

Moby Rich & Bishop Briggs – Friends*

Phantom Planet – Only One

May-a – Green

The Rehats – Nothing But The Truth

Wildcard (week 22)

Werner’s Weekly (week 22)

Spotify playlist

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Wildcard (week 22)

Werner’s Weekly (week 22)

Spotify playlist

Social Media

Subscribe via email

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