Carte Blanche Music | Pagina 5 van 227 |

Hawke are a young Dublin act, consisting of friends Richie Power (vocals/keyboards) and Eoghan MacMahon (vocals/guitar). They formed the band in the shadow of the world-famous Guinness Brewery (in the south of the city). Cheers to that! The duo is currently based in London, by the way.

After recording initial home demos in Richie’s bedroom, they decided to send their demo-tape to a hit-list of the industry’s top producers. Within days, the cunning plan paid off and Richie & Eoghan found themselves recording their newly-written songs during precious studio time at both Abbey Road and Metropolis Studios in the capital.

Hawke have used their lockdown time wisely, spending much of 2020 furiously writing and recording songs. These will form the basis of another cunning plan: they’ll release twelve new singles throughout 2021. One each month.

Pinch Me (Am I Dreaming?) is the second of this bunch. An anthemic track that displays the duo’s fondness for rousing ‘90s indie-rock (particularly their love of The Verve, Coldplay and Oasis). Produced by Jamie McIntyre (a member of highly tipped The Covasettes), it was mastered by Carlos Bricio of the Abbey Road Institute, London.

Pinch Me (Am I Dreaming?) by Hawke is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. As such, it’ll feature prominently at the top of the blog for a whole week.

Follow Hawke on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

In the Wildcards 2021 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.

werner's weekly

Werner’s Weekly (week 11)

March 15th, 2021

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:

Monowhales – He Said/She Said (I Wait) (Wildcard this week)
Kalie Shorr – Amy (Wildcard last week)
Ali Barter – You Get In My Way
Eyjaa – Don’t Forget About Me
Louis & The Shakes – How Badly Do You Want It?
Lucy Daydream – Fast Forward
Penfriend – Cancel Your Hopes

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: Dua Lipa, London Grammar, Tom Grennan, and more.

single track

Christopher – Fall So Hard

March 13th, 2021

Imagine this: in Denmark, everyone knows Christopher. He’s got 600.000 followers on Instagram. Pretty impressive for a country of less than 6 million people. He’s so popular, he never released a single that wasn’t certified Gold or Platinum.

And then the strange part: the rest of the world seems to ignore the whole thing. That doesn’t only defy all logic, it also defies my sense of justice. So let me try and help things along a little bit…

Fall So Hard is Christopher’s new single. A big pop tune from probably the biggest Danish solo artist around. It sounds like a successful collaboration between Coldplay and Banners, so I wouldn’t know why this shouldn’t be a huge hit all over the continent.

Christopher explains: ”Fall So Hard is a song of optimism and change. About how all of a sudden, something or someone can step into your life and make it fundamentally different. But the thing about this cliché is that it’s really true. I recently became a dad for the very first time and from one single moment I was a subsidiary person in my own life. Everything is turned upside down. It’s just a brand new and overriding dimension which is indescribable.”

Follow Christopher on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

pop

cover, single track

Hedda Mae – Sitting Down Here (De Neste)

March 13th, 2021

Emerging future pop star Hedda Mae hasn’t really broken out of her home country Norway yet, but you’d better keep an eye on her. She and her co-writer and producer Benjamin Giørtz (Tiësto, Betty Who) are a great tandem. He creates songs with a nu-disco flavour, while her youthful performance makes them sound extra fresh.

The singer, whose real name is Hedda Aalvik Grønhaug, will put out her second EP of original material later this year. First single Take It Or Leave It was released earlier this year. As a side project, Hedda Mae contributed to Norwegian TV show De Neste (‘the next’). For the programme, she recorded two covers of Norwegian classics: Jaa9 & OnkleP’s Glir Forbi, and Lene Marlin’s finest moment Sitting Down Here. The latter was a pan-European hit in 1999.

On behalf of the TV show, Giørtz produced and arranged a modern version, full of his trademark ‘80s influences. It goes down very well with the original composition and could make the song a hit all over again. I think the current generation will love this Kylie Minogue-like take on Sitting Down Here.

Recommended as well:
Hedda Mae – Madness

Follow Hedda Mae on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

disco | indie | pop

single track

You Am I – The Waterboy

March 13th, 2021

Remember the band Silverchair? They named themselves after a You Am I song. Yes, YAI’s career is that long already. Formed in December 1989, they were one of the most successful and admired Australian bands of the ‘90s.

Their latest studio album, Porridge And Hot Sauce, dates from 2015, but a follow-up is on its way. Recorded during the pandemic, the band members recorded their parts individually. The as-yet untitled record is due out later this year, but the Aussies just shared its rocking lead single. Entitled The Waterboy, the new song indeed takes inspiration from The Waterboys themselves. The lyrics directly reference the band’s front man Mike Scott.

Follow You Am I on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

indie | pop | rock

single track

Montaigne – Technicolour

March 13th, 2021

In 2020, Montaigne was supposed to represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest with the empowering track Don’t Break Me. But, well, you know… Luckily, the artist was also chosen for the 2021 edition of the event. In my opinion, her new entry is even better than last year’s song.

To say the least, Technicolour is a bold and theatrical tune. It’s an up-tempo hyper-pop track, that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Charli XCX album. A great song for Montaigne to showcase her impressive vocal capacity. Its production is no less than innovative, with a surprising and ear-catching pre-chorus. The chorus itself is infectious and euphoric.

A song made for the Eurovision Song Contest, that deserves to score well beyond the event.

Recommended as well:
Montaigne – Ready

Follow Montaigne on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

electronic | pop

single track

Audio Book Club – Boots

March 13th, 2021

Please meet Dylan Jordan, Derek Moore, Adam Thornbrough and Zach Pearson. Four lads from Oklahoma who called their band Audio Book Club. After releasing two 4-track EP’s in 2019, they slowed their production down a little. They released one track (Don’t Ask Me Where I’ve Been) in 2020 and Boots is their first release of this year. But as far as I’m concerned, I like quality over quantity. In that respect, there’s no reason to complain.

Boots is another one of Audio Book Club’s cheerful, dynamic pop songs. It sounds like they recorded it with the same synth Gary Numan used in Cars, 42(!) years ago. Fans of post-punk bands like Devo and The Gang Of Four are sure to like this as well. All in all, this is an energetic, well-produced track that ticks all the right nostalgic boxes.

Follow Audio Book Club on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

indie | pop | rock

single track

Madame Monsieur – Coeurs Abîmés

March 13th, 2021

Only last year, Madame Monsieur released their 25-track album Tandem. With collabs by the likes of Kyo, Slimane, Black M, Christophe Willem, Hatik, and many more, it sounds like a ‘who is who’ in French pop. Apparently, Emilie Satt and Jean-Karl Lucason are on a prolific streak, as they’ve already started releasing all-new songs.

Coeurs Abîmés (‘damaged hearts’) is a fun, up-beat track. Its synths and drums are directly borrowed from the ‘80s, creating a Take On Me or Kids In America-like vibe. No complaints there, obviously.

Recommended as well:
Madame Monsieur – Mercy

Follow them on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

indie | pop

single track

Japanese Breakfast – Be Sweet

March 13th, 2021

Japanese Breakfast’s first two albums were made in times of grief, worries and anguish. However, for her upcoming third album Jubilee (out on 4 June), she chose a more buoyant and colourful approach. Inspired by records like Björk’s Homogenic, the songs are about ‘recalling the optimism of youth and applying it to adulthood’.

First single Be Sweet is a good example of what to expect. Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast’s real name) wrote the track with Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing. Kickstarted by a great bass melody, it’s an energetic song with undeniable ‘80s synth-pop influences. A far cry from her earlier inspirations, like indie-rock and shoegaze.

Follow Japanese Breakfast on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

indie | pop

album track

Lucy Spraggan – Heartbreak Suites

March 13th, 2021

If you follow Lucy Spraggan’s socials, you see a woman full of self-confidence. Funny, one day vulnerable, the other day strong, but always 100% authentic. Proud of her body, and perhaps even prouder of her new, sixth album Choices. Rightly so, for she worked hard on both of them 😉. In this piece I’ll stick with the album though. A great pop record, and her highest charting one. It entered the UK Album Top 100 at #5 last week, without the help of a major label.

Choices contains 13 tracks, six of which have been released as singles before. The songs tell Spraggan’s story of the past years, which makes this her most personal album, so far. Heartbreak Suites is my favourite non-single track. To me, it stands out because of its infectious backing vocals, relatable lyrics and overall catchy production.

Listening to a ‘60s compilation album inspired her to make a tune with that sound. A job well done, for even though ooh sha la la’s are absent from the song, you can hear them in the back of your head. Heartbreak Suites may sound joyful, but she wrote it around the time her marriage sadly stranded, when she often stayed in hotels in order to flee from reality. Spraggan co-wrote the track with her long-time collaborator Joe Hammill. He also worked with quite a few Belgian artists, like Alice On The Roof, Tessa Dixson and Blanche.

Recommended as well:
Animal
Today Was A Good Day
Modern Day Frankenstein

Follow Lucy Spraggan on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

indie | pop

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