Carte Blanche Music

Hatchie – Without A Blush

March 5th, 2019

After a few singles, which were collected on her EP Sugar And Spice, 25-year-old Australian singer-songwriter/bassist Harriette Pilbeam (better known as Hatchie) has announced her debut album. Keepsake will be out on 21 June. It’ll feature 10 brand-new tracks, inspired by the likes of Cocteau Twins, Mazzy Star, and My Bloody Valentine.

One of these 10 songs is Hatchie’s new single Without A Blush. A dreamy, radio-friendly pop track. In a statement, Hatchie called the track ‘the perfect introduction to the feelings and sounds on the rest of the record’.

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

single track

The Pale White – Medicine

March 4th, 2019

Dire Straits, Maxïmo Park, Prefab Sprout, Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys) and Sting are just some of the artists that call Newcastle home. Rock band The Pale White can be added to that list.

Following their eponymous debut EP (2017) and its follow-up Take Me To The Strange (2018), the three-piece just released new single Medicine. Their best so far, if you’d ask me. But since you don’t, let me just tell you the song has been a fan favourite for a while now, after making several appearances at previous live shows. Go and see (and hear) for yourself, when the band head over to Europe in April, to play their first ever shows outside their home country, supporting Sam Fender.

Speaking about the new song, singer/guitarist Adam Hope says: “Medicine is about the mundane greyness you feel when you get stuck in a rut and caught in an endless haze while searching for your own personal remedy.”

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

indie | rock

werner's weekly

Werner’s Weekly (week 10)

March 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:

Sundara Karma – Little Smart Houses (Wildcard this week)
Vendredi Sur Mer – Chewing-Gum (Wildcard last week)
Lydia Briggs – Down
Maty Noyes – New Friends
Nikki’s Wives – Lemonade
Sun Gods – Zanzara

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: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, The Cranberries, Foals, Hozier, The Mowgli’s, Sigrid, Tom Walker & Zara Larsson, Weezer, and many more.

single track

Neo Minor – The More (I Try)

March 1st, 2019

Neo Minor are four friends from Belgium: Astrid Vlaminck (vocals), Viktor Verstraelen (keys), Ewout Picavet (bass, keys, and electronics), and Tanguy Heireman (drums and electronics). In search of their own sound and new challenges, they found each other in the summer of 2015.

The main idea of the band is to create an innovative, fresh and catchy sound, which they describe as ‘melodical sound-pop music with some subtle sound-scaping elements’. Their deliberate choice not to include a guitarist in the line-up, allowed them to include sophisticated piano melodies and bass lines. Combined with tight drum patterns and angelic vocals, the typical Neo Minor sound took shape. Call it melodic post-rock, if you will…

Today, 1 March, Neo Minor release their eponymous debut EP. The More (I Try) is the first single off it.

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

pop

chart

Your favourites (February 2019)

March 1st, 2019

So far, this winter can hardly be called a winter, and you won’t hear me complain about it. In February, weather record after record was broken. It looks like this is reflected in your favourites of this past month. There’s a sunny vibe running through this Top 10, which features the most read Carte Blanche Music recommendations of February.

Dutch producer Sir Notch has not one, but two tracks amidst your favourites. Last year’s Gimme That Sunshine still resonates with you, while his latest single (a co-production with his youth friend Tommy The Sound) stands proudly at #2.

Talking about being proud: the only two established artists in your Top 10 are Pet Shop Boys and Dodgy, all of the other entries are emerging – or even debuting – acts. You guys have great taste!

Below are your 10 favourites. You can find them all (and many more) in my daily updated 2019 container playlist Carte Blanche Music:

single track

Hezen – Bring Your Alibi

February 28th, 2019

London-based singer-songwriter and producer Sara Hezen grew up outside of Paris. With Caribbean, Tamil, and Jewish blood running through her veins, her family history is coloured with narratives of displacement, resistance, and resilience. This heritage, as well as artists like Björk, Massive Attack, Sia, James Blake, and Lana Del Rey, were of big influence on her song-writing. Hezen produces is dark electronic pop that fuses experimentalism with a canny ear for epic and infectious hooks.

Her new single Bring Your Alibi was inspired by the #MeToo campaign. Hezen says it had a profound effect on her. “It felt like an incredible shift – I remember feeling so much admiration for the people who found the courage to tell their story. I was inspired to channel that resilience and courage – it’s like a feminist retelling of David vs. Goliath.”

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

electronic | pop

single track

Sun Gods – Zanzara

February 28th, 2019

Remember Subtle Science by Sun Gods? This great new Belgian band, consisting of brothers Brent Buckler and Sander Cliquet, Vincent Lembregts, and Marijn Geerts, have a new single out. Once again, it’s well worth your attention!

Formerly known as Barefoot & The Shoes, the four musicians renamed their band and re-invented their sound. Nowadays, they produce ‘big music’, referencing the likes of Peter Gabriel and Simple Minds, while adding contemporary elements of new musical heroes like The War On Drugs and Editors. That said, they have a warm and broad sound of their own. This is largely thanks to Brent Buckler’s characteristic and charming voice, that brings back memories of Hothouse Flowers’ Liam O’Maonlai (Don’t Go, anybody?). Oh well, forgive me my melancholy chatter…

After their debut single Subtle Science was fully embraced by Belgium’s Radio 1, 2019 is about to become the year of the Sun Gods. New songs, new shows and festivals will put the band firmly on the map. At least, that’s what the label promises 😉

If new single Zanzara is anything to go by, I’m convinced Sun Gods will live up to that promise!

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

indie | pop | rock

single track

Maty Noyes – New Friends

February 27th, 2019

Maty Noyes established herself through collaborations with other artists (most notably The Weeknd and Kygo), before becoming a star in her own right.

Last August, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter released her second EP Love Songs From A Lolita. New Friends is the new single off it. A catchy track, of which Noyes says: “A song about a lot of close friends letting me down, when I wrote this song I was in the thick of it. It’s throwing major shade but it serves friendship realness.”

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

pop

single track, wildcard

Wildcard (week 9):
Sundara Karma – Little Smart Houses

February 27th, 2019

Sundara Karma may very well be one of the most creative bands to come out of the UK lately. None of their songs sound the same. Me, for one, I’m looking forward to the follow-up to their 2017 debut album Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect.

After Illusions, One Last Night On This Earth, The Changeover, and, most recently, Higher States, the band now unleash Little Smart Houses. It’s the last single to come out ahead of their second album Ulfilas’ Alphabet (scheduled for release in March).

Little Smart Houses is a cheerful song with David Byrne-like vocals and a few productional jokes. It’s poppy and accessible on the one hand, but sure to please fans of more alternative music on the other. This week, it’s the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!

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

pop

single track

Lydia Briggs – Down

February 26th, 2019

Born and raised in Cleveland, USA, a mile from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Lydia Briggs has been playing piano non-stop since the age of 5. At 13, she began writing her own material, and a year later, she started her own label: Gin House Records. She copyrighted her songs, and at 15, walked into the studio to record her debut EP with legendary producer Jim Wirt (Fiona Apple, Incubus, No Doubt, Hoobastank, Live).

This EP, which will be released soon, features the 15-year-old’s pure voice, jazz-influenced piano, bluesy chord progressions, and beautifully thoughtful orchestration. One can hear the influence of Briggs’s idol Regina Spektor resonate in these self-written songs. Down is her very promising, and very first single.

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

blues | indie | jazz | pop

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Hatchie – Without A Blush

The Pale White – Medicine

Werner’s Weekly (week 10)

Neo Minor – The More (I Try)

Your favourites (February 2019)

Hezen – Bring Your Alibi

Sun Gods – Zanzara

Maty Noyes – New Friends

Wildcard (week 9):
Sundara Karma – Little Smart Houses

Lydia Briggs – Down

Wildcard (week 11)

Werner’s Weekly (week 12)

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