My container playlist Carte Blanche Music 2021 doesn’t only include all of the 998 songs I recommended last year. It also holds the 100 best tracks in my opinion, the Carte Blanche Music Top 2021, which I published last week. But that’s only my selection. Isn’t it more interesting to see which of my recommendations you read the most? In other words: which of them were Your Favourites in 2021?

Apparently, the Carte Blanche Music blog has a strong archive function. A quarter of the Top 100 below consists of blog posts from earlier years, which you find via search engines. ‘Google is your friend’, as they say… Also, I think it’s wonderful to see young and upcoming artists like Angèle, Aili x Transistorcake, Mina Okabe, Eyjaa and Videoclub having more than one track amongst your favourites. These are acts to keep an extra keen eye on!

Thank you for being such loyal visitors of Carte Blanche Music. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and you won’t miss a single recommendation. You’ll find all of these brand-new songs and more in my daily updated Spotify playlist.

And now, enjoy last year’s greatest chart of all: Your Favourites 2021!

1. Drew Sycamore – 45 Fahrenheit Girl ^(WC)
2. Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu (2020)
3. Super db – Wait For Me
4. Japanese Breakfast – Paprika
5. Just – Walk Slow Smile More
6. The Blue Stones – One By One
7. Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies (2020)
8. Mina Okabe – Miss Those Days
9. Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (2020) ^(WC)
10. Agnes – Here Comes The Night
11. Pixey – Free To Live In Colour (2020)
12. Laura Mvula – Got Me
13. Angèle – La Loi De Murphy (2017)
14. Temples – Paraphernalia (2020)
15. Who – Hey! Get Out The Way ^(WC)
16. Julietta – Not Today
17. Lola Le Lann – Portofino (2020)
18. a-ha feat. Ingrid Helene Håvik – The Sun Always Shines On TV (MTV Unplugged) (2019)
19. Eyjaa – Don’t Forget About Me
20. Indochine x Christine & The Queens – 3Sex (2020)
21. Me & My Toothbrush – Funking Around (2020)
22. Jealous Of The Birds – Something Holy (2020)
23. Saint Motel – Preach (2020)
24. Izo FitzRoy – Red Line (2020) ^(WC)
25. Videoclub – Enfance 80 (2020)
26. Therapie Taxi – Eté 90
27. Christopher – Fall So Hard
28. Isaac Dunbar – Fan Behavior
29. Mina Okabe – Walk Away
30. Alfie Templeman – Things I Thought Were Mine (2020)
31. Danilo – Bringing It Back
32. Negramaro – Ora Ti Canto Il Mare
33. Videoclub – En Nuit (2019) ^(WC)
34. Good Health Good Wealth – Guinness
35. Ivan & The Parazol – Mást Vártam
36. Placebo – Beautiful James
37. Super-Hi x Neeka – Following The Sun
38. Trunky Juno – Daddy’s Gone For Cigarettes
39. Shanguy – Toukassé (2019) ^(WC)
40. Del Amitri – Close Your Eyes And Think Of England
41. Raffaella – Ballerina (2019)
42. Ali Barter – You Get In My Way
43. The Roop – Discoteque
44. Izzy Bizu (feat. Chris Martin) – Someone That Loves You ’19 (2019)
45. Fear Of Tigers – Tiger Blood
46. Grand Corps Malade – Pas Essentiel ^(WC)
47. Olivia – Can’t Break A Broken Heart
48. The Bamboos – Ride On Time
49. Angèle – Balance Ton Quoi (2019)
50. The Vices – In And Out (2020)
51. The Academic – Not Your Summer
52. Gotts Street Park feat. Flikka – Favourite Kind Of Girl (2020)
53. Aili x Transistorcake – Pari Pari
54. Mélodie Lauret – À Quoi Tu Penses Quand Tu M’adores ? (2020)
55. Eyjaa – The Wrecking Crew
56. Dubstar – Tectonic Plates
57. Tom Jones – Talking Reality Television Blues ^(WC)
58. AKA George – Manic Machine
59. You Am I – The Waterboy
60. Grand Corps Malade – Des Gens Beaux
61. The Vices – Looking For Faces
62. Kuzko – My Mama Says
63. Alessia Cara & The Warning – Enter Sandman
64. L U – Liquid Gold
65. Ruby Waters – Blow
66. IBE – Table Of Fools (2019)
67. Banji – Listen
68. Moby feat. Gregory Porter & Amythyst Kiah – Natural Blues [Reprise Version]
69. Rori – The Same Way
70. Gracie Abrams – Friend
71. Said The Whale – Honey Lungs
72. Clara Luciani – Respire Encore ^(WC)
73. Papooz – Theatrical State Of Mind (2019)
74. Lou Hayter – Time Out Of Mind
75. Mia Nicolai – People Pleaser
76. Why Don’t We – Slow Down
77. Miss Machine – Regarder Les Choses
78. Sitting On Stacy – Chest Hair
79. Devon – Warning Signs
80. Videoclub – Roi
81. Kristiane – Wish I Could Be Your Girl (2020)
82. Laura Mac – Garage Full Of Dreams ^(WC)
83. Dopha – The Game (2020)
84. Maty Noyes – New Friends
85. Bugs – Old Youth Feeling
86. Kailee Morgue – This Is Why I’m Hot
87. Calby – Burnout (2019)
88. Dry Cleaning – Scratchcard Lanyard
89. Our Lady Peace (feat. Pussy Riot) – Stop Making Stupid People Famous
90. Eelke – Too Much Too Soon
91. Troi Irons – She Loves Me Not
92. Niko Rubio – Bed
93. Aly & AJ – Don’t Need Nothing
94. Luz – Counting Houses
95. Son Mieux – 1992
96. Valeras – Rita
97. Amen Mustang – (The Shit You Say) When You’re High
98. Angèle – Libre ^(*)
99. Milo – What’s The Matter
100. The Hisunz – CNTRDCTNS

^(WC)    ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
^(*)       album track

Ahead of your favourites among this year’s Carte Blanche Music recommendations, which I’ll publish next week, these are my personal choices from the songs that came out in 2021. This list holds only 100 tracks, but you can find all of my 998 recommendations in my container playlist Carte Blanche Music 2021.

As always, I love to share some statistics about the Carte Blanche Music Top 2021. If there’s one – sad – common denominator to be found in this list, it’s that most of these songs have been criminally overlooked by radio stations outside the artist’s home countries. Radio playlists are growing more and more uniform, denying the diversity of the music available. Obviously, with over 60.000 new tracks added to Spotify every day the supply is kind of excessive, but more adventurous choices would be very welcome. Knowing this won’t happen, the best you can do is follow the Carte Blanche Music playlist, then I’ll keep you updated 😉. This is what you can expect, based on this year’s Top 2021:

• Mostly (young and) upcoming artists, many of whom release their music independently
• No less than 72% of the Top 2021 features female vocalists, up from 70% in our Top 2020 and 60% in the Top 2019
• We love pure pop songs, but with 40% guitar-based tracks, we’re more rock ‘n’ roll than average. According to Spotify Wrapped, our favourite genres last year were indie pop, modern alternative rock and dance pop, and we agree
• You can expect the best new tunes from all over the world, but even we have our preferences. We have extra warm feelings for music from countries like Australia, France, Canada and Denmark. Just so you know…

The Carte Blanche Music Top 2021 features 100 tracks, which are presented below in alphabetical order. You can listen to them all via the Spotify player. If you prefer another order, the shuffle button is your friend.

Meanwhile, you can read my original recommendations through the links below.

• Ali Barter – You Get In My Way
• Alice Merton – Island
• The Allergies – Move On Baby
• Ally Cribb – Bigger
• Alta Falls – The Fire
• Aly & AJ – Don’t Need Nothing
• Amy Shark – Baby Steps
• Angèle – Libre
• Anish Kumar & Barry Can’t Swim – Blackpool Boulevard
• Archie X – Fight Me
• Baby Queen – You Shaped Hole ^(WC)
• Bakermat (feat. LaShun Pace) – Ain’t Nobody
• Baxtr – In Pop We Trust ^(WC)
• beabadoobee – He Gets Me So High ^{(*) (WC)}
• Blu DeTiger – Blondes
• Buffalo Paradise – Buffalo Paradise
• bülow – Revolver
• Calogero – Centre Ville
• Camila Cabello – Don’t Go Yet
• Charlie Collins – Just My Luck
• Chloe Lilac – 19
• Clara Luciani – Respire Encore ^(WC)
• Clypso – On Our Way ^(WC)
• Coeur De Pirate – Tu Peux Crever Là-Bas ^(*)
• Cold War Kids – What You Say
• Coral Palms – Something In The Air ^(WC)
• Daði Freyr & Ásdís – Feel The Love
• Dead Anyway – Pigs In Blankets
• Drew Sycamore – 45 Fahrenheit Girl ^(WC)
• Dual – Wipe Your Tears Away
• Dua Lipa – Love Again ^(WC)
• Dubstar – Tectonic Plates
• Dylan Cartlidge – Hang My Head ^(WC)
• Eyjaa – Don’t Forget About Me
• Fear Of Tigers – Tiger Blood
• Foals – Wake Me Up ^(WC)
• Foo Fighters – Waiting On A War
• Foxes – Sister Ray ^(WC)
• Grand Corps Malade – Des Gens Beaux
• Haerts – Days Go By ^(WC)
• Halsey – Honey
• Harry Styles – Treat People With Kindness ^(WC)
• Hawke – Pinch Me (Am I Dreaming?) ^(WC)
• Hope Tala – Tiptoeing ^(WC)
• Jaguar Jonze – Who Died And Made You King? ^(WC)
• Japanese Breakfast – Paprika
• Jonas Brøg (feat. Lilian Vieira) – I’m Your Nr. 1 [Brazilian Version] ^(WC)
• Julie Zenatti – France Et Jojo
• Kacey Musgraves – There Is A Light
• King Stingray – Milkumana
• Kinishao – Always In My Head
• Laura Mac – Garage Full Of Dreams ^(WC)
• Lauran Hibberd – Bleugh ^(WC)
• Lights – Prodigal Daughter
• Lissie – Hey Boy ^(WC)
• Lizzie Esau – Bitter Weather
• Lou Hayter – Time Out Of Mind
• Lucy Spraggan – Heartbreak Suites ^(*)
• Madison Olds – If You Wanna
• mags – I Can’t Get Over You
• Maisie Peters – Psycho
• Marina – Purge The Poison ^(WC)
• May-a – Central Station ^(WC)
• Mazy – Flowers ^(WC)
• Mike Posner (feat. James Valentine & Jacob Scesney) – Amor Fati
• Miles Kane feat. Corinne Bailey Rae – Nothing’s Ever Gonna Be Good Enough ^(WC)
• Miss Machine – Regarder Les Choses
• Monowhales – He Said/She Said (I Wait) ^(WC)
• Montaigne – Technicolour
• Niko Rubio – You Could Be The One ^(WC)
• Olivia Rodrigo – Good 4 U
• Orla Gartland – You’re Not Special, Babe
• Palaye Royale – No Love In LA
• Parcels – Comingback ^(WC)
• Päter – Obstinate Brain
• Philippine – Bah Non. ^(WC)
• Placebo – Beautiful James
• The Ramona Flowers feat. Nile Rodgers – Up All Night
• Render Ghosts – Eye Rhyme
• RoseeLu – Playing Alone ^(WC)
• Saint Djuni – All Of My Friends ^(WC)
• Self Esteem – How Can I Help You ^(WC)
• Slothrust – Once More For The Ocean ^(WC)
• Smith & Thell – Pixie’s Parasol ^(WC)
• Stefanie Heinzmann – Labyrinth ^(WC)
• Super db – Wait For Me
• Telenova – Bones ^(WC)
• Thunder Fox – Not For Sale
• Torres – Thirstier ^(WC)
• Tove Styrke – Start Walking
• Troi Irons – She Loves Me Not
• Vistas – Start Again
• Who – Hey! Get Out The Way ^(WC)
• Who Parked The Car – Candle Dance
• Willow feat. Travis Barker – Transparent Soul
• Wilsn – You Know Better ^(WC)
• Wolf Alice – How Can I Make It OK?
• Yelle – Noir ^(WC)
• Youth Sector – Self Exile ^(WC)
• Yuke – Stranger Still ^(WC)

^(WC)    ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
^(*)       album track