Carte Blanche Music | Pagina 5 van 236 |

Scandinavia is well-known as ‘pop heaven’, but they also have artists who like to throw in a guitar or two. Stockholm-based Linn Koch-Emmery is one of them. A consequence of her German and British roots perhaps? Oh well, let’s not search for answers, but just enjoy her fresh indie-rock songs with killer choruses.

Koch-Emmery may be releasing music since 2016, she’s only just put out her debut album Being The Girl. An 11-track long-player that already includes four great singles. More will probably follow, for it holds other great songs. One of the best in my opinion is called Dirty Words, although it isn’t explicit at all. It’s got hints of early ‘90s New Order, and lyrically it features dark humour and a sense of self-distance.

Dirty Words would make a strong fifth single, as far as I’m concerned.

Recommended as well:
Linn Koch-Emmery – Hologram Love

Follow Linn Koch-Emmery on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

single track

Lahos x Svea – Bad Thing

May 15th, 2021

Leonard Biwer is an upcoming Cologne-born and Berlin-based multi-instrumentalist and producer. As Lahos, he worked with Younotus, Alle Farben, The Rasmus, Eli and others in recent years. Hot on the heels of his debut EP Youth Pattern, he just released his best song, so far. Once again, it’s a collaboration, this time with emerging Swedish singer and songwriter Svea Kågemark.

Bad Thing is an up-tempo tune with cutting-edge beats, funky guitars and catchy choirs. Svea’s strong vocals fit this massive musical backdrop like a glove. A danceable track, but 100% pop. Only just over 2 minutes long, there’s no reason whatsoever not to playlist this one. Hit!

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

indie | pop

single track

St. Vincent – Down

May 15th, 2021

Since March, St. Vincent (née Annie Clark) releases a single every month. Each of them was meant to be a teaser for her new album Daddy’s Home, which came out last week. Just like Masseducation, the one before, it was produced by fun.’s Jack Antonoff. Clark explained that the new album was inspired by her father’s release from prison for white-collar crime, as well as his vinyl collection from the ’70s.

By the sound of her latest single, Down, her dad liked his music slick and funky. The song opens with a minimalistic synth riff in the vein of Stevie Wonder. Later on, we also hear touches of soul, electronic music, r&b and indie. Vocally, Kate Bush and Joss Stone appear to have been sources of inspiration. All in all, it’s a diverse track that doesn’t bore for one second.

Follow St. Vincent on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

funk | indie | pop

single track

Edouard Landry – Words

May 15th, 2021

Edouard Landry is a Canadian artist who, thus far, recorded his music in French. This resulted in nominations for Francophone Artist of the Year and Best Album by a Francophone Artist, among others. Now, after four long-players in French, he’s ready to release his first English-language album. Entitled Be Here Now, it’ll be out on 4 June.

Despite the title of his upcoming record, Landry makes timeless pop music. With a prominent role for the piano, it brings Elton John and Billy Joel to mind. New single Words is a great example. It describes an analogy between building and song-writing. He had almost finished it, when he visited the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. There, he saw a quote from Philip Guston about artists needing to ‘make concrete how [they] feel’. Landry found this to be the final missing piece of Words, which tied the story up nicely.

In the lyrics, Landry references his former career in French: ‘En Français, ‘cause maybe I like to hide’. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no need to be shy. Words is a great step forward, and is likely to appeal to a larger audience than he ever had before.

Follow Edouard Landry on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

indie | pop

single track

Rebecca Lou – Lovesick

May 15th, 2021

Technically, Rebecca Lou are a Danish trio, but there’s no doubt Rebecca Louise Armstrong is its front woman. If you thought their music so far was too punky, too dark and/or too sad, here’s your chance to start and love them. New single Lovesick is the first track to be released ahead of the band’s upcoming sophomore album Heavy Metal Feelings. An upbeat, fun, powerful, playful and bright love anthem, it could give Pink a run for her money. In the piano melody, Clock Opera’s Belongings shines through. Now that’s one hell of a recommendation!

When I just described Lovesick as a love anthem, I didn’t mean your usual love anthem. Talking about the track, Rebecca explains: “The inspiration for Lovesick came after I met my friend’s tarantula Jenny. I thought she was so adorable and creepy cute, that I started daydreaming about her becoming a real human being and how we would fall in love and the whole world would turn into a big thunderstorm of pure romance. That’s why the chorus goes ‘Jenny come alive / all your colours make me high’. It was a very weird and funny way to kick-start the track thematically, and I ended up sticking with it, because I thought it was funny.”

Follow Rebecca Lou on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify

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

indie | pop | rock

single track, wildcard

Wildcard (week 19): Niko Rubio – You Could Be The One

May 12th, 2021

Following her first single I Dreamt About You Last Night (2019), things got quiet around Niko Rubio. But now she’s back with what a press statement calls her ‘debut single’. In other words: forget about the other one, the future starts here.

Danielle Rubio, better known as Niko, is an emerging singer, songwriter and guitarist from the South Bay of Los Angeles. The 20-year-old began her love affair with music when she was just a kid. In her early teens, she listened to artists like the XX, Bob Dylan and Shakira. Later on, she added Vampire Weekend, Lana Del Rey, Erykah Badu and Twenty One Pilots to her tastes. Growing up in Mexican culture, Niko liked the mariachi and banda music her grandparents played at home as well.

This diverse set of influences translates into her own eclectic style. Take her new single You Could Be The One, for instance. A kicky pop-rock track with a shimmering chorus, accentuated with pulsating guitars, groovy percussion and Rubio’s soulful vocals. It’s the first song from her forthcoming debut EP, due out this Summer.

This week, You Could Be The One by Niko Rubio is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. As such, you’ll find it at the top of the blog for a full week.

Follow Niko Rubio on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify

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

pop | rock

werner's weekly

Werner’s Weekly (week 19)

May 10th, 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:

Clypso – On Our Way (Wildcard this week)
Lissie – Hey Boy (Wildcard last week)
Don Diablo presents Camp Kubrick – Whatchu Do
mags – I Can’t Get Over You
Milo – What’s The Matter
Moby feat. Gregory Porter & Amythyst Kiah – Natural Blues [Reprise Version]
Willow feat. Travis Barker – Transparent Soul

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: Coldplay, Hooverphonic, Jake Bugg, Modest Mouse, and more.

single track

Telenova – Tranquilize

May 8th, 2021

Telenova is a new Australian super group. In both senses of the word. First of all, the band is made up of front woman Angeline Armstrong, and producer/multi-instrumentalists Edward Quinn and Joshua Moriarty. They made a name for themselves before as parts of notable Aussie acts Beachwood, Slum Sociable and Miami Horror. But second of all, after only two releases we may conclude this group is really super!

Just over a year ago, the trio met at a songwriting camp, curated by Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla. They immediately clicked and decided to start a band. You may remember me praise Telenova’s debut single Bones, and now its follow-up is out as well. Another great song, with mesmerising vocals and a prominent bass line, producing a brooding atmosphere.

The lyrics are inspired by the mythological sirens, likening falling in love to the intoxicating and transfixing attraction of a siren’s call. It does so in such an addictive way, the song turns into a siren’s call itself. The musical version of the Droste effect! 😉

Recommended as well:
Telenova – Bones

Follow Telenova on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

indie | pop

single track

Super db – Wait For Me

May 8th, 2021

Allow me to start with the bad news: the fade-out is making a comeback in today’s pop music. I’ve once heard a studio technician explain: ‘A fade-out gives the impression a song can go on endlessly, whereas a cold ending clearly indicates a song has really finished’. That’s all very well, but to me a fade-out just sounds plain lazy.

But hey, let’s skip to the good news… Super db have a great new single out!

Super db are a 4-piece band from London, whose sound is a distinctive mix of pop, disco, funk, rock and jazz. Their band name has a double meaning: it plays on the positive, upbeat nature of their music, but it also includes the band members’ initials. Super db are twin brothers JM Sutcliffe (guitars, vocals) and JP Sutcliffe (drums, vocals, keys, percussion), joined by Matt Dibble (keys, vocals, sax, clarinet) and Lorenzo Bassignani (bass).

Their new single Wait For Me sounds like a Westcoast take on Olivia Newton-John & ELO’s Xanadu. That’s not a coincidence. The audio style of the track is a homage to Jeff Lynne’s productions of the late ‘70s, featuring falsetto vocals, dense production, and classic ‘vocoder’ sounds in the chorus. Lyrically, it’s about a man caught in a love triangle.

Following Kool Funk and Open Line To Me, which the band released in 2020, Wait For Me is the third single to be released ahead of their new album. Entitled Ecoute Ça (French for ‘listen to this’), it’ll come out in the summer; the perfect season for this sunny kind of music!

Follow Super db on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

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

indie | pop

single track

Babe Rainbow – Ready For Tomorrow

May 8th, 2021

The last time I wrote about Babe Rainbow, the Australian band was yet to release their debut album. Four years later, they have more than two hands full of singles and three albums to their name. And the fourth, Changing Colours, comes out this week. The record was once again produced by Wayne Connelly, who previously helmed classic records by The Vines, Neil Finn, and You Am I.

Babe Rainbow’s music has an undeniable link with the past. Their new single Ready For Tomorrow, for instance, combines funky disco with jazzy guitars and a Tame Impala kind of psychedelia. Groovy, baby!

Singer Angus Dowling says about the track: “It’s about 21st-century life, finding relief from the stress of both the future and the past. It is about Persephone running into her mother Demeter’s comforting arms.”

I’ll just take another beer then…

Recommended as well:
Babe Rainbow – Johny Says Stay Cool

Follow Babe Rainbow on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify

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

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