Browsing Tag indie
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 41):
indie | pop | rock
Wildcard (week 41):
Jaguar Jonze – Who Died And Made You King?
Deena Lynch is a multi-talented performer. She is an Instagram artist (as Spectator Jonze), a photographer (Dusky Jonze) and a musician (Jaguar Jonze). Recently however, her artistry was pushed to the back a little, for she had quite the year. Apart from the ‘usual’ COVID-19 hassle, she attracted the virus herself. Also, she shared her experiences of sexual abuse and harassment in the music industry, and became a strong voice for the #metoo movement in Australia.
In her fiery new single Who Died And Made You King?, Jonze celebrates the fact that in the last year, many notable ‘kings’ or heads at the top of the music industry have been taken down. The track is driven by punchy percussion, fierce distorted vocals and determined lyrics. It acts as a warning that more downfalls and clean-ups are yet to come.
Meanwhile, she leaves no doubt she’s back. Jonze explains: “With this single, I wanted to take back my power, take back my voice and take back my artistry.”
This week, Who Died And Made You King? by Jaguar Jonze is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. It’ll feature at the top of the blog for a full seven days.
Recommended as well:
Rabbit Hole
Kill Me With Your Love
Follow Jaguar Jonze on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2021 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s 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.
werner's weeklydance | electronic | indie | pop | punk | rock
Werner’s Weekly (week 41)
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:
- Youth Sector – Self Exile (Wildcard this week)
- Foxes – Sister Ray (Wildcard last week)
- David Bowie – You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving [2000 Version]
- IndyAnna Baby feat. Amy Shark – I’m Not Giving Up
- Julie Zenatti – France Et Jojo
- Paloma – Fever
- The Cat Empire – Into The Night
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: Richard Ashcroft, Tears For Fears, We Are Scientists, 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.
single trackindie | pop | rock
Ida Laurberg – Personal Letters
When Danish DIY artist Ida Laurberg self-released her debut single Puppy Dog Eyes in 2016, she was only 16 years old. The song went viral and has now been streamed over 15 million times. It made Laurberg one of the most critically acclaimed DIY pop stars-to be in Denmark. You can imagine several major labels have been chasing her autograph. For a record deal, that is. But instead, she started her own label All Chemistry with her manager. Small on the one hand, but with big – international – ambitions on the other.
So, five years into her career, her new single is once again self-released, just like the one that started it all. “I have never written a happy song”, the songwriter claimed recently. She still hasn’t. New song Personal Letters is a hard-hitting track that fuses dark, modern pop with matching grunge-y guitars.
Speaking of the single, Laurberg says: “Personal Letters is about my frustration of not having the nerve to confront people in my life when they do something that hurts me, which ends up in me getting hurt and having my boundaries overstepped time after time. Instead, I keep up finding myself perform angry monologues with myself in the shower in the mornings. That’s Personal Letters.”
Play this one loud!
Follow Ida Laurberg 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.
album trackindie | pop | r&b | soul
Wyn Starks – Black Is Golden
After releasing 14 singles in just two years’ time, Wyn Starks finally came up with his debut album Black Is Golden. A record as diverse as diversity gets, which puts an extra dose of soul in modern r&b. Meanwhile, the album combines Starks’ upbringing in Minneapolis with the innovative sounds he discovered upon relocating to Nashville.
In online magazine Euphoria he explains: “When I say black is golden, I think about so many artists, activists, and everyday people that have inspired me. People like Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, James Baldwin, Bayard Rustin, Cornel West, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Prince, and my mother Cheryl Ann Johnson (just to name a few). It’s important we acknowledge their contributions to society, music, and the world. I stand on their shoulders. I hope that through this album I can inspire someone in the same way. That’s why I decided to call it Black Is Golden. It’s a celebration of people who have inspired me on this road to becoming Wyn Starks.”
The title track is my favourite song on the album. It was written in response to injustice and racial inequality when it comes to black people. A track with an important message, wrapped in a sound that’s both vintage and progressive.
Follow Wyn Starks 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.
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 40):
indie | punk | rock
Wildcard (week 40):
Youth Sector – Self Exile
Are you (like me) old enough to know and appreciate bands like Devo, Talking Heads and Tubeway Army? Then you might want to check out Brighton five-piece art-rock outfit Youth Sector, who combine the best of these bands.
Speaking of their new single, the band’s Nick Tompkins says: “Self Exile is about feeling self-destructive, cutting your nose to spite your face, and wanting to push yourself away from those around you as punishment. The lyric ‘That should do it this time’ is written in the mindset of thinking you’ve finally hit someone’s final nerve.”
Clocking in at [3’02], Self Exile is an energetic, well-crafted post-punk track. Exciting and catchy; playful and punchy. What more does a good song need? ‘That should do it’, indeed.
Self Exile by Youth Sector is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, so it’ll feature at the top of the blog for a full week!
Follow Youth Sector on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2021 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s 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.
werner's weeklycountry | dance | electronic | indie | pop | rock
Werner’s Weekly (week 40)
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:
- Foxes – Sister Ray (Wildcard this week)
- Mazy – Flowers (Wildcard last week)
- Caroline Romano – Oddities And Prodigies
- Kacey Musgraves – There Is A Light
- Lucky Blue – Daydreaming
- Pixey – Take Me On
- Renée Millner – So Much
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: Aloe Blacc, The Allergies, Sam Fender, White Lies, 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.
single trackindie | pop
Julie Zenatti – France Et Jojo
In December 2017 and January 2018, France lost two of its biggest icons: Johnny Hallyday and France Gall respectively. On her new single, French singer and actress Julie Zenatti pays tribute to the musical heroes. The piano and bassline in France Et Jojo make it even sound a bit like a France Gall song. It causes both a good mood and a nostalgic one.
Zenatti’s homage is a brand-new song, that’s not on her latest album Refaire Danser Les Fleurs. But with its ‘80s influences it’s entirely in line with the music on that long-player. Also, this song is bound to work well live, when the singer goes back on tour in November.
Recommended as well:
Julie Zenatti – Tout Est Plus Pop
Follow Julie Zenatti 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.
single trackindie | pop
The Cat Empire – Into The Night
With their cocktail of jazz, ska, funk, rock and Latin music, Australian outfit The Cat Empire creates a unique sound. A sound, as you can imagine, that brings down the roof when played live. Especially with six musicians on stage, often supplemented by a horn section. That’s The Cat Empire as we’ve known it for the past 20 years, but things are going to change. This line-up will play another three final concerts, and then, founding members Felix Riebl (vocals/percussion) and Ollie McGill (keyboards/backing vocals) will continue the band in a new form. ‘With a re-imagined, vibrant, cross-cultural, and joyful collective of musicians and artists’, as they say themselves. New music is planned for 2022. Hopefully they’ll keep the musical mix intact.
Ahead of this drastic change, the band released six farewell songs. The two last ones, Sparrow and Into The Night are out now. I like the latter best. It’s got that wonderful live energy you’ll remember if you ever attended one of the band’s gigs.
Riebl says about it: “I guess it’s an unashamed fist in the air anthem that celebrates the exuberance and live music and coming together and sharing germs and spreading an infecting love and just being in that space where you can let loose whether that’s at a live show, your living rooms or wherever you are. (…) I won’t hide the fact that this is a nostalgic song. It’s about looking back and realising that you made all sorts of mistakes, but if you can be together on one night, then there’s cause to celebrate music, and that’s all.”
Follow The Cat Empire 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.
single trackindie | pop
IndyAnna Baby feat. Amy Shark – I’m Not Giving Up
Gab Strum, a.k.a. Japanese Wallpaper, has spent the lockdowns well. Apart from releasing his own songs, he produced, remixed and collaborated with many other (Australian) artists. Fletcher Gull, Cry Club and Charlie Collins, for instance. Meanwhile, Amy Shark, one of Australia’s best-loved songwriters, released her hugely successful sophomore album Cry Forever.
I can imagine it must be a dream to be able to work with one of them. Especially when you’re ‘only’ an upcoming artist. This story proves dreams can come true. And then some…
Gold Coast-based artist IndyAnna Baby, who just dropped their debut single, managed to work with both of the mega stars. The track, I’m Not Giving Up, was co-written by Shark and co-produced by Strum. Shark also appears as a featured singer on the track. Their voices blend together wonderfully.
I’m Not Giving Up is a moody, heartfelt tune, built around acoustic guitars and beautiful horns. A great and promising way to start a career!
Follow IndyAnna Baby on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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.
single trackindie | rock
Paloma – Fever
I bet most people, when asked about a ‘paloma’ related to music, will refer to George Baker Selections’s 1975 hit Paloma Blanca or, more current, singer Paloma Faith. High time for a third addition to this list: a band simply named Paloma.
This band, formerly known as Light Up The Sky, came on my radar with their fourth single as Paloma. Its follow-up is equally catchy. Fever combines pop verses with a rock chorus, where the guitars take over. Throughout, there are plenty electronic elements, vocal effects and harmonies.
A great reason to get to know their earlier tracks as well, if you hadn’t already.
Recommended as well:
Paloma – 2AM (Love Again)
Follow Paloma 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.
