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Your favourites (April 2020)

May 1st, 2020

Another month has passed, and what a month it was… Well, it was the month of April, obviously, and it was a very busy one. It strikes me that the number of new releases has exploded during the pandemic. And If I may be honest: a lot of it doesn’t meet the Carte Blanche Music standards. Sometimes, I’d like to yell: “It’s not enough to have the time and the means to make a recording. For a decent song, you need talent as well!” In other words: I listen to a lot more songs lately, only to end up with the ten good ones a week that I’d really like to recommend you. But hey, I happen to love listening to new music and making the best selection possible for you guys, so I’m not complaining!

Still, there’s much more great new music than I can write about. Check (and follow) my 2020 Spotify-playlist for the rest of the best. I update it constantly, so you’ll find it there first.

So, which of my recommendations were most popular in April? As you may know by now, I write about artists for all over the world, not sticking to the countries that provide most of today’s popular music, the US and the UK. I’m very glad to see that reflected in the articles that you liked best in the past month. France (Shanguy), Iceland (Daði Freyr), Belgium (Tout Va Bien), Canada (Roquemore) and even my own tiny Netherlands (Inge van Calkar) are represented amongst Your Favourites. That makes me proud.

Below, you can find the full Top 10. Your Top 10. Are there entries you didn’t know yet? Just click the link to go to my recommendation directly and listen why others liked it so much. Allow yourself to be amazed!

^(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard

single track, wildcard

Wildcard (week 18):
MisterWives – Rock Bottom

April 29th, 2020

MisterWives came together in New York at the end of 2012 when singer Mandy Lee wanted an ’80s cover band for her birthday party. When she couldn’t find one, she decided to start a band herself with some friends. They came on my radar in 2015, when I thought Our Own House was one of the best singles of that year.

The band never disappointed me ever since. I love their high-energy, radio-friendly pop songs and the air-tight production that comes with them. It landed MisterWives earlier Carte Blanche Music Wildcards with their singles Machine and Never Give Up On Me.

Rock Bottom is their brilliant new tune. Mandy Lee explains: “Rock bottom is where I’ve spent most of my time these last couple of years, but this song is about getting up and out of that dark and painful place and knowing you never want to get to that lowest low again.”

It’s got a real fun dance groove and I absolutely love the horns on it. As far as I’m concerned, radio stations that don’t program this gem, should turn in their license immediately. For a whole week, Rock Bottom by MisterWives will feature prominently and proudly on the Carte Blanche Music blog as our new Wildcard.

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

electronic | pop

werner's weekly

Werner’s Weekly (week 18)

April 27th, 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:

Grand Corps Malade – Effets Secondaires (Wildcard this week)
Dive In – Give Me A Reason (Wildcard last week)
Inge van Calkar – Spinning Around
Julian Velard – Half Done
Michelle David & The Gospel Sessions – Victory!
Picture This – Troublemaker
Smallpools x morgxn – Slowdown

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 1975, Hayley Williams, Maria Mena, Pet Shop Boys, and many more.

single track

The Treble – No Secrets (There For You)

April 25th, 2020

You may have noticed – and it’s hardly a secret – I’m very much into Australian and Canadian music lately. These are two of the largest countries on the globe, although most popular music comes from Great-Britain or the US. Hopefully, I can help you discover some great talent from elsewhere!

The text above could be shortened to ‘no secrets (there for you)’ 😉

The Treble are a rock band from Winnipeg, Canada. Their second album Rivals includes previous singles Saturday Night, Fix Of You and All The People, plus five new tracks. One of those, No Secrets (There For You), is the band’s new single. If you like Carte Blanche Music favourites The Snuts, you’re sure to like this one!

This blog is all about the music, but please let me point you to the track’s self-produced video as well. It features shot-for-shot remakes of the band’s favourite videos from the ’80s. A whopping 45 of them, including clips from a-ha, Talking Heads, Nena and George Michael. “We had started the project pre-quarantine, but thankfully the concept made it something we could continue during the lockdown”, The Treble explain.

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

indie | pop | rock

single track

The Haggis Horns – Haggis Express

April 25th, 2020

I’m a sucker for bands with great horn sections. The likes of Chicago and Tower Of Power. Or the Dap-Kings, who worked with Sharon Jones, and later with artists like Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson.

UK funk/soul kings The Haggis Horns were new to me. My fault, because they’re around for over two decades, working with Corinne Bailey Rae, Lily Allen, Jamiroquai, and many more. I only heard of them recently, when doing research for my recommendation of Izo FitzRoy’s Red Line.

The Haggis Horns are about to release their fifth album Stand Up For Love. Its first single is the full-on instrumental banger Haggis Express, for all you funk/soul brothers and sisters out there.

Groovy rhythm section: check.
Scratchy funk guitar: check.
Fiery hammond organ solo: check.
Latin fire congas: check.
A horn section so sharp you could shave with their riffs: check.

It’s never too late to discover a great old band. Please meet The Haggis Horns. Pure dirty funk at it’s best.

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

funk | indie | instrumental | soul

single track

Mxmtoon – No Faker

April 25th, 2020

Maia is a 19-year-old Californian singer-songwriter who produces music as mxmtoon (pronounced as ‘em-ex-em-toon’). Her DIY fairy tale started with a ukulele, a YouTube account and secret recording sessions from her bedroom. Not even her parents and friends were aware of the acoustic covers and self-written songs she put on her channel. But then she got snapped up by music blogs, resulting in hundreds of millions of views and fans all over the world. The rest, as they say, is history…

Mxmtoon released her first EP Plum Blossom in 2018, followed by the full album The Masquerade in 2019. So far, her songs have been pretty introvert, but the tracks on her new EP Dawn are more outward focussed. “’Happier’ songs have never come easily to me”, Maia says about the project. However, fun tunes like her new single No Faker prove she found a way around this ‘problem’. It explores the sunny side of life, adding fun, fresh beats and infectious rhythms to the mix. In her own words: “I want to lift people up. I still love making sad songs, but I wanted to make something that felt refreshing to me this time.”

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

folk | indie | pop

single track

Carmanah – Best Interests

April 25th, 2020

Canadian band Carmanah took its name from the rainforests in the province of British Columbia. One can imagine why. Their music is steamy, moody, shimmering and brooding. Imagine a spooky, soulful melting pot with elements of roots, blues and (soft) rock. It’s got a bit of a trip hop vibe as well, and an atmosphere comparable with Concrete Blonde’s Joey. Hope that makes sense. If not, all you can do is listen (which is highly recommended anyway).

Best Interests is Carmanah’s new single. It comes with a driving melody, lush instrumentation, and Laura Mina Mitic’s soulfully luminous vocals. Following As I See You, Best Interests is the second single to be released ahead of the band’s upcoming sophomore album Iris.

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

single track

Austra feat. Cecile Believe – Mountain Baby

April 25th, 2020

1 May, Katie Austra Stelmanis will release her fourth album HiRUDiN, the follow-up to 2017’s Future Politics. Mountain Baby is the third single to come out ahead of it. It features a children’s choir from Wilkinson Public School in Toronto, where Austra’s mother teaches. The other female voice on the track is Cecile Believe’s, who relocated to Los Angeles from Montreal in 2017. Most prominent, however, is a beautiful, almost hypnotic piano melody, which highlights Austra’s parts.

Stelmanis points out: “Mountain Baby explores the different stages of a breakup. Surrounded by a feeling of unknown and grounded only by a hidden sense to move forward (the choir), we’re also reminded through flashbacks of both the uncertainty and resistance we experienced in the relationship (Katie), as well as the pure, unbridled joy (Cecile).”

Recommended as well:
Austra – Anywayz

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

indie | pop

single track

E^ST – Maybe It’s Me

April 25th, 2020

22-year-old Melisa Bester was born in South-Africa, but relocated with her family to Australia. There she started her musical career, calling herself E^ST (pronounced as ‘east’). After releasing EP’s in 2014, 2015 and 2016, she devoted her time to putting out separate tracks. However, she just announced her debut album I’m Doing It, which will be out on 17 July.

Her new single Maybe It’s Me is one of the tracks on the long-player. A happy and up-beat song with soul, about accepting who you are in a world where misfortune and making mistakes don’t exist. A summery earworm of a tune that brings out the sun. I dare you to sit still to this!

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

pop

single track

Maddy Jane – Perfection’s A Thing And You’re It

April 25th, 2020

Maddy Jane is an independent singer-songwriter from the small town of Bruny Island, Tasmania. Her honest lyrics and captivating song-writing have earned her a regular spot on the airways of Australian alternative radio station triple j. She already did huge arena tours, supporting the likes of Catfish & The Bottlemen and Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Perfection’s A Thing And You’re It is the third single off Maddy’s forthcoming debut album Not All Bad Or Good. Scheduled release date: 1 May. The punchy track finds itself amongst the heavier edge of her music. “It’s not a love song”, the singer says. “It’s sarcasm for perfection’s not a thing and you can’t be it. It came from people in my life who were not willing to accept other people’s faults, or their own. It’s a song saying no one is perfect and we should try to love all of ourselves and others, faults and all.”

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

pop | rock

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Your favourites (April 2020)

Wildcard (week 18):
MisterWives – Rock Bottom

Werner’s Weekly (week 18)

The Treble – No Secrets (There For You)

The Haggis Horns – Haggis Express

Mxmtoon – No Faker

Carmanah – Best Interests

Austra feat. Cecile Believe – Mountain Baby

E^ST – Maybe It’s Me

Maddy Jane – Perfection’s A Thing And You’re It

Wildcard (week 22)

Werner’s Weekly (week 22)

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Wildcard (week 22)

Werner’s Weekly (week 22)

Spotify playlist

Social Media

Subscribe via email

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