Browsing Tag acoustic
Wernerâs Weekly (week 40)
This is Wernerâs Weekly, your guide to the best new music, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:
- Your Angel – Complicated
(Wildcard this week)
- Courteeners – Itâll Take More Than A Weekend Away To Fix This Mess
(Wildcard last week)
- Dopha – Frenemies
- Loyle Carner – Nobody Knows (Ladas World)
- Red Rum Club – Vanilla
- Weiners – Se Non Ci Sei
- Young Gun Silver Fox – Rolling Back
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Wernerâs Weekly player below.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: AngĂšle, The Go! Team, Paramore, The War On Drugs, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and more.

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Wernerâs Weekly (week 39)
This is Wernerâs Weekly, your guide to the best new music, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:
- Courteeners – Itâll Take More Than A Weekend Away To Fix This Mess
(Wildcard this week)
- Jessia – One Of The Guys
(Wildcard last week)
- Ayesha A. Madon – Goldfish
- In Waves – Elephant (Donât Wake It!)
- Moli – Crying In The Swimming Pool
- Olivia Lobato & Björn Holmgren – Haglar
- Reddi – Bad Pop Song
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Wernerâs Weekly player below.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: Alma, Editors, Mando Diao, Weezer, and more.

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Wildcard (week 38):
Courteeners – Itâll Take More Than A Weekend Away To Fix This Mess
After forming in 2006, The Courteeners were lauded by Q Magazine as âone of the worldâs biggest underground actsâ. The band lived up to that title, as all of their six album reached the Top 10 of the UK Album Chart. Morrissey and Bono are among the artists who have expressed their appreciation of the band.
This success story started with the bandâs 2008 debut album St. Jude, produced by Stephen Street (of The Smiths and Blur fame). In 2012, they dropped âTheâ from their name, continuing as Courteeners. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of their debut, the band re-recorded the album and released that version as St. Jude Re:Wired. 13 January 2023 thereâs another jubilee to be celebrated, and a 15th Anniversary Edition of the album will come out. This expanded version will include the original album plus b-sides, non-album singles and demos.
One of these bonustracks is Itâll Take More Than A Weekend Away To Fix This Mess, an âuneartedâ song from the original recording sessions. The reflective, laid-back tune sees front man Liam Fray croon over a largely acoustic guitar-led instrumental before keys, lovely trumpets and chanted backing vocals are introduced in the triumphant final part. The title may appear to be impossible to sing, but ends up having a hypnotising effect on the listener.
Courteenersâ Itâll Take More Than A Weekend Away To Fix This Mess is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. That means itâll feature prominently at the top of the blog for a whole week.
Follow Courteeners on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2022 playlist youâll find all of this yearâs Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Christon – The Story About A Boy Who Jumped Off A Cliff And Landed Softly
Itâs been some time since Christon released music under his own name. He hasnât exactly sat still though, writing and producing for other artists. International ones like Aloe Blacc, Ziggy Marley, Lost Frequencies and Mathieu Koss, as well as Dutch colleagues such as Guus Meeuwis, Ronnie Flex and Ellen ten Damme. Also, heâs currently presenting the TV programme âDe Troubadoursâ, in which he writes a song in a day with fellow artists, based on their personal stories. And then of course, there are his other musical projects with names like Sir Notch and North [Sic].
Christonâs new single is called The Story About A Boy Who Jumped Off A Cliff And Landed Softly. This stripped down track is the title song of âDe Jongen Die Van De Klif Sprong En Zacht Terechtkwamâ, the debut novel of Dutch journalist Stefan Raatgever. This book deals with the coming of age and coming out of a 19-year-old boy. The book cover contains a sticker with the Spotify code of the song.
Raatgever interviewed Christon multiple times during his career as part of the band XYP, as front man of Rigby and as a solo artist. He became a fan and asked the singer to write a theme song for his book. This challenge was accepted.
âTo me, Christon is one of the best songwriters in the Netherlandsâ, Raatgever explains. âHe often deploys his talents for others, but Iâm happy he sang this song himself. Iâm proud of the beautiful way he put the theme of my first book to music. Itâs a wonderful, Johnny Cash-like track.â
Christon, who already produced a soundtrack to his own debut thriller, âAdamâ, adds he tried to stick as much to Raatgeverâs story as possible. âI recorded this song in an intimate, acoustic setting. It incorporates both the struggle and the acceptance of the main character.â
Recommended as well:
Closer To A New Day
Younger Than Before
Where Do We Go From Here
Perfect World (feat. Maxime Barlag)
Follow Christon on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Amy Shark – Amy Shark
Naming a song after yourself can only mean two things: utter narcissism or utter vulnerability. You can leave it to Amy Shark to choose for the second option.
This raw self-titled track is the sixth to be released ahead of the artistâs upcoming album Cry Forever (30 April). The highly personal song will close the long-player. Amy clarifies: âItâs track 13 because in a way this album closes so many chapters for me.â She adds: âThis song is my story.â
Amy Shark is about a person who wasnât there when she needed them. As a result, she has painful memories from her childhood, which she lays bare painstakingly in this song. Although she recalls it all vividly, she feels itâs a thing of the past. As Amy explains: âIâm not mad but I remember everything and some people just werenât there when I needed them and unfortunately itâs just too late to start giving a fuck about me now.â
Recommended as well:
Amy Shark – Baby Steps
Follow Amy Shark on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Wernerâs Weekly (week 4)
This is Wernerâs 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:
- San Mei – In The Machine (Wildcard this week)
- Black Honey – Believer (Wildcard last week)
- Baby FuzZ feat. LP – Before Our Time
- Baby Queen – Raw Thoughts
- Monowhales – Out With The Old
- Son Mieux – 1992
- Twan Ray – It Never Feel Right
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Wernerâs Weekly player below.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: Weezer, Gin Wigmore, Royal Blood, and more.

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Twan Ray – It Never Feel Right
For some people, the COVID-19 pandemic was a blessing in disguise. Take 21-year-old Amsterdam singer-songwriter Twan Ray for instance. When he found himself in quarantine, he locked himself in his bedroom for weeks. He only connected with himself (via the mirror) and with songwriter/producer Radboud Miedema (via the internet). The latter wrote global hits with the likes of Lost Frequencies and Alle Farben before, amassing over 1 billion streams.
Together, they decided to take the DIY path. In lockdown, without a label, they wrote and recorded an albumâs worth of tracks, which they are releasing independently, one by one. This approach was an instant success. First single We Could Start A Thing was immediately picked up by Spotify in their home country the Netherlands, and added to some important Dutch playlists. The international playlist Fresh And Chill quickly followed, resulting in almost 2 million streams to date.
I was given the chance to listen to all of the recorded tracks at an early stage and allowed to give my feedback. I commented I seldomly heard lo-fi recordings that were so well produced. Sounds like a contradiction, doesnât it? Also, I indicated It Never Feel Right was my favourite track of the bunch. And guess what? Thatâs Twan Rayâs new single. With only an acoustic guitar, a slightly transformed voice and a smart whistle, itâs as uncomplicated as it is irresistible.
Follow Twan Ray on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Swimming Tapes – Pyrenees
London-based five-piece Swimming Tapes produce charming and summery indie-pop, Their debut album Morningside (24 May) will be full of it. This explains any comparisons with bands like Real Estate and Belle & Sebastian.
Pyrenees is the long-playerâs first single. The band explain: “Pyrenees is a sweet little bop of a pop song. It might only clock in at two-and-a-half minutes but we still managed to get two different guitar solos in there. The songâs about what follows an argument with a loved one, that middle of the night feeling when you realise actually youâre the one in the wrong.”
The song makes me think of New Orderâs Bizarre Love Triangle in Frente!âs delicate version.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
a-ha feat. Ingrid Helene HĂ„vik – The Sun Always Shines On TV (MTV Unplugged)
From no other artist I attended as many âfarewell toursâ as from a-ha. And luckily, they decided to extend their career even further.
Last summer, on 22 and 23 June, the band played MTV Unplugged sessions at Ăygardshallen (Giske Harbour Hall) on the Norwegian island of Giske, which will be released 6 October on the live CD/DVD/Blu-ray Summer Solstice. A-ha was accompanied on stage by Ian McCulloch (Echo & The Bunnymen), Ingrid Helene HĂ„vik (Highasakite), Lissie and Alison Moyet.
Among the 21-song setlist were two brand new tracks (one of which, This Is Our Home, is released as a single) and stripped down performances of all of the bandâs classic tracks. One of these, a re-arranged version of The Sun Always Shines On TV, featuring additional vocals by Ingrid Helene HĂ„vik, has been released as a single as well.
Following these MTV Unplugged sessions a-ha will go on an acoustic tour throughout 2018. Their third farewell tour? ?

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Wernerâs Weekly (week 21)
Please meet this weekâs champions, in alphabetical order:
- Saint Motel – Destroyer (this weekâs Wildcard)
- Fhin – Quand On Arrive En Ville (last weekâs Wildcard)
- Mist feat. Alondra Bentley – Fade In Fade Out
- Paramore – Rose-Colored Boy
- Ride – All I Want
- Rocky – Love Is A Soft Machine
- Starcrawler – Ants
You can read my writings about them by clicking the links, and listen via the Wernerâs Weekly player in the sidebar. Even more great new music is awaiting you in my container playlist Carte Blanche Music. Feel free to subscribe to either or both of them!

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.