Browsing Tag electronic
Au/Ra – Dance In The Dark
Born on Ibiza, raised on Antigua, 17-year-old Au/Ra (real name: Jamie Stenzel) is an island girl with German roots. Her father is a famous German dance producer. Kickstarted when British DJ duo CamelPhat remixed her track Panic Room, she now stands on her own feet. So much so, that she didn’t just release one new track, but two: Medicine and Dance In The Dark.
The latter is my favourite. It’s a rather experimental, sample- and beat-heavy, up-tempo electro-pop track. Au/Ra explains: “Dance In The Dark is about the acceptance of the dark times that will inevitably be part of our lives. Life will never be perfect, and without the bad, there’s no good either.”
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Werner’s Weekly (week 28)
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:
- Miki Núñez – Celébrate (Wildcard this week)
- Videoclub – En Nuit (Wildcard last week)
- Ali Barter – Backseat
- The Black Keys – Shine A Little Light
- Flay – Not In California
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: Belle & Sebastian, Ed Sheeran with Chris Stapleton & Bruno Mars, Ride, and many more.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
K.Flay – Not In California
The ‘10s are the era where constantly keeping yourself in the picture is almost more important than giving your songs the time to grow into hits. Just weeks after K.Flay’s great single Sister was the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, she already drops a new tune. Not In California is the fourth and final instant grat track to be taken off her forthcoming album Solutions, due out on 12 July.
The song bears all of K.Flay’s trademarks, like her raspy voice, the Weezer-like guitars, and a huge sing-along chorus. Speaking about Not In California, the singer says: “We’re not in Kansas anymore. I think we all know that sensation. Of being in a place that resembles the world you know, but feels different somehow and the difference is unsettling and disorienting and scary. Kinda makes you wanna click your shoes together and go back home to how it used to be.”
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Werner’s Weekly (week 27)
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:
- Videoclub – En Nuit (Wildcard this week)
- Flay – Sister (Wildcard last week)
- Alex Lahey – Isabella
- Alfie Templeman – Tragic Love
- Annie Hamilton – Kitchen
- Ariana & The Rose – True Love
- Maggie Lindemann feat. Travis Barker – Friends Go
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: Álvaro Soler, Heather Nova, Sigrid, Two Door Cinema Club, and many more.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Bye Beneco – It’s Not True Love
Hailing from Johannesburg, South Africa, Bye Beneco are an eclectic dream-pop band, led by impressive front woman Lenny-Dee Doucha. With their debut album Space Elephant (2014) and the EP Ghetto Disko (2017), they’ve already been making waves in both the underground and popular culture music scenes. This summer, they move to Berlin to further conquer Europe (and beyond).
Today, as a follow-up to their recent single I’m Not The One, Bye Beneco released their new song It’s Not True Love. Another danceable indie-pop track, and their best yet, in my opinion.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Wildcard (week 26):
Videoclub – En Nuit
Historically, English has always been the language in charts all over the world. But this is slowly changing. In recent years, we’ve seen songs in Spanish crossing over to non-Spanish-speaking territories, and it’s my guess that French will be next. The number of great acts from France (and from the French-speaking part of Belgium) is overwhelming. And the fun part is: really young artists appear to lead the way to global stardom.
Remember Belgian singer-songwriter Angèle (23), whom I wrote about many times? Allow me to remind you she’s one to watch! But equally impressive is the career that Videoclub are building. The duo consists of Adèle Castillon (17), a YouTube phenomenon with over 650.000 followers, and her friend Matthieu Reynaud. With only two singles under their belt, they built a large fanbase, mainly in the US. I can see that from the huge number of Americans that read my recommendation of their second single Roi, and who find Carte Blanche Music via organic searches through terms like ‘videoclub roi’ (duh) and ‘videoclub french band’.
Now, the up and coming electro-pop teens are back with their third single. It’s called ‘En Nuit’, which means ‘at night’, but it’s also a play at ‘ennui’, meaning ‘boredom’. Another ultra-catchy song with sweet synth-pop sounds and gripping ‘ooh-ooh’s, that serve as a pleasant backdrop to Adèle and Matthieu’s youthful and sultry vocals. Don’t forget to check the video as well. It’s made by Aube Perrie, who also directed the clip for La Thune by Angèle.
This week, En Nuit by Videoclub is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
In the Wildcards 2019 playlist you can find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Ariana & The Rose – True Love
New York-based Ariana & The Rose is an artist who embraces an audio-visual approach to creativity, producing honest synth-driven songs. Ahead of the first instalment of her upcoming two-part Constellations EP (out on 26 July, with part two set for a 2020 release), she releases a series of singles.
The latest of these, True Love, is her most irresistibly jubilant song yet. It feels like a throwback to classic ‘80s synth pop, while also being undeniably current. Lyrically, the track honours the universal power of love, regardless of sexual orientation, skin colour, or age.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Werner’s Weekly (week 26)
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:
- Flay – Sister (Wildcard this week)
- Jay Som – Superbike (Wildcard last week)
- Akiva – Broken Ships
- Ceylon Ceylon (feat. Graziella) – Why Don’t They Love You
- Kasador – High Rise
- Montaigne – Ready
- Yorke – Thought I Could
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: !!!, Cold War Kids, The Cult, The Kooks, Robyn, Two Door Cinema Club, and many more.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Yorke – Thought I Could
There are tons of great music coming from Australia, but alas not all of it catches on abroad. That must be due to the huge amount of releases in this streaming era, for purely based on song quality, the percentage of Australian hits should be much higher than it is.
Up and coming Byron Bay-born singer-songwriter Yorke (real name Grace Hughes) is another good example. She only released her appropriately named debut single First Light at the end of 2018 and her new single is only her third.
Thought I Could paints a dreamy indie-pop picture with cinematic production, dark keys, punchy drums, and a big chorus with a catchy hook. In the song, Yorke questions the reality of leaving her hometown to follow her dreams in Sydney, and the consequences of her decisions by having to leave someone behind.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Wildcard (week 25):
K.Flay – Sister
K.Flay is an Illinois born-and-raised, hip hop-inspired alt-pop artist. After two independently released albums in 2009 and 2014, she broke through with her 2017 major label debut Every Where Is Some Where. It received two Grammy nominations. So, the bar has been set high for her next album Solutions, due out 12 July.
If her new single is anything to go by, K.Flay is about to live up to the expectations. Sister is a genre-blurring song, incorporating analogue synths along with live bass and guitar, while shifting between pop, rock, hip hop, and electronic moods. This is the kind of track the word ‘banger’ is made for.
K.Flay’s new single Sister will feature prominently on the Carte Blanche Music blog for one whole week as the new Wildcard.
In the Wildcards 2019 playlist you can find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
