Browsing Tag indie
beabadoobee – Charlie Brown
In September 2017, beabadoobee released her very first single Coffee. It immediately made heads turn at Dirty Hit Records, home to The 1975, Pale Waves, Wolf Alice and many others. Also, it drew 300.000 viewers on YouTube and grabbed the attention of Canadian rapper Powfu. He incorporated a sample of the track in his single Death Bed (Coffee For Your Head), which became a worldwide hit in early 2020. In an interview, beabadoobee said about that: “I kinda hated it. I hated more people knowing about the first song I’d ever written and not my others.” Nevertheless, it formed a perfect launch pad for her own career.
In the last months, she released no less than five singles ahead of her debut album Fake It Flowers. Care, Sorry, Worth It, How Was Your Day? and Together are all on it. My favourite track however is Charlie Brown. Not exactly because of its light-hearted theme, because it’s a dark song about auto-mutilation. But it’s also a driving song, full of energy. Explosive even, in a Nirvana kind of way. Epic stuff by a very promising artist who is only 20 years of age.
Recommended as well:
beabadoobee – She Plays Bass
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.
Kristiane – Wish I Could Be Your Girl
Kristiane Alphson is an up-and-coming singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. After singing in an acapella group at high school, she started doing solo shows in LA. She spent the last few years writing and crafting a sound of her own.
Her new single Wish I Could Be Your Girl is only her second ever. It follows her debut single I Can’t Tell, which she released last August. Her latest track is a dreamy alternative pop song that grabs your attention upon first listen. It tells an intimate tale she wrote only recently. Subsequently, producer Jesse Munsat made it sound the way she dreamed it would. The two did a great job!
Kristiane tells about Wish I Could Be Your Girl: “This song to me isn’t about literally wanting to be somebody’s ‘girl’, but rather wanting to fit the archetype of the kind of partner that’s easy to be with, uncomplicated. I think as someone who struggles with mental health it’s easy to demonize your emotions, instead of embracing that it’s okay to be someone with a complicated history/emotions.”
Later this Autumn, Kristiane will release another single, followed by an EP early next year.
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.
Dopha – Anti Breakup Song
Last summer, I was very enthusiastic about Dopha’s single The Game. With her new single, the Danish singer (born Sofie Daugaard Andersen) proves me right. Anti Breakup Song is another fine pop single with an edge. Ironic and self-conscious, it’s about how difficult it can be to look up and just go on when things do go to plan.
Anti Breakup Song contains lyrical references to Britney Spears, The Cardigans and Garbage. Funnily (and probably not coincidentally) the music is a mix of these three as well.
Dopha is currently finishing her debut album The Game. I’m looking forward to it very much!
Recommended as well:
Dopha – The Game
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.
Eliza & The Delusionals – Sentimental
My recommendation of Eliza & The Delusionals’ Just Exist is one of the all time best-read posts on this blog. Apparently, the Australian band around Eliza Klatt already had a huge following early in their career. Undoubtedly, the number of fans has blown up since then, seeing their steady stream of great pop/rock tracks to date.
Following last Spring’s EP A State Of Living In An Objective Reality, they are now back with a brand-new song. It was written in collaboration with award winning Australian pop writer Sarah Aarons (Cosmo’s Midnight, Childish Gambino) and American songwriter/producer John Hill (WAFIA, Portugal. The Man). As hinted by the title Sentimental, it’s a song with a somewhat nostalgic feeling to it. Musically, it brings us back to the indie rock of the ‘90s and early ‘00s.
Eliza explains how it came together: “Kurt started playing some chords in a tuning he made on the tour bus. We knew we were going in for a writing session, so after coming up with a few ideas around the chords, we brought it into the studio with Sarah and John, and they really helped bring it to life. After having a few months of listening to the demo over and over, myself and Kurt added a bridge and the other parts before taking it into the studio with Ruby and Tex to record it.”
Recommended as well:
Eliza & The Delusionals – Swimming Pool
Eliza & The Delusionals – Just Exist
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.
Chateau Chateau – Hey There
Chateau Chateau is an evolving community of musicians led by power couple Alex (vocals and guitar) and Rachel (vocals and keytar). Tom (drums), Jordan (keyboard and guitar), and Zach (bass and guitar) complete the line-up. In true DIY fashion, they do everything from start to finish. In addition to song-writing, this includes recording songs, printing shirts, building props, and sewing stage costumes.
Just over 2,5 year after they formed, Chateau Chateau already prove a Carte Blanche Music favourite. The Tucson, Arizona band is well-known for combining flamboyant glam-rock with lyrics that are much more sober and dark. Think of subjects like mental illnesses, addiction, and suicide.
But in 2020, things are different. On their new single Hey There, the music is as dark as the lyrics. It’s a melancholic ballad about the struggles of choosing for short-term comfort instead of long-term consequences. Alas a theme that fits the shifting spirits now that the pandemic lasts longer than some had expected.
Recommended as well:
Burn Me Alive
Evidence
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.
The Beths – Mars, The God Of War
One can hear the fun The Beths are having while playing their songs. Take their new single Mars, The God Of War, for instance. A well-crafted, driving rock song that’s lifted from their sophomore album Jump Rope Gazers, which dropped last July. It brings a smile to your face, and then you haven’t seen the video yet.
The clip was directed by long-time collaborators Callum Devlin and Annabel Kean of Sports Team. It shows an attempted robbery by the New Zealand rock quartet.
Singer/guitarist Elizabeth Stokes comments: “Since NZ is COVID-free, it is a noticeable joy and euphoria to come together and do something. We feel very happy and the sports team kicked it out of the park again.”
The Beths are set to tour their home country in November, hopefully followed by a European tour kicking off in March next year.
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.
Icona Pop & Sofi Tukker – Spa
A steamy collaboration if ever there was one. In the EDM world, both of these two duos are hot. Sweden-based Icona Pop already reached the mainstream with their 2012 debut single I Love It (feat. Charli XCX). Meanwhile, America’s Sofi Tukker (consisting of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern) are building a large audience of their own, via live gigs as well as radio.
Collaborative single Spa offers the best of both worlds. The beats and verses are trademark Sofi Tukker, while the chorus has all the right sing-along ingredients of an Icona Pop song. This results in a radio-friendly dance track that has the potential to set fire to both dancefloors and airwaves.
Gonna make you sweat!
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.
Better Person – Close To You
Polish-born Adam Byczkowski is a promising artist who is currently living in Berlin. Using the artist name Better Person, he just released his debut album Something To Lose.
The single Close To You is based on a drum pattern that could have been borrowed from Prince. Meanwhile, Byczkowski’s timbre and way of singing bring the late Talk Talk frontman Mark Hollis to mind. Great references as far as I’m concerned, which make for a throwback to sophisticated ‘80s and ‘90s pop. Furthermore, the track was produced by MGMT’s Ben Goldwasser and mastered by Greg Calbi (Joe Jackson, Tame Impala and hundreds more). I’d say Byczkowski couldn’t have surrounded himself with better persons.
In his own words, Close To You is ‘a simple song about love and growing tired of the nightlife’. He explains: “When I wrote this song I was quite done with going out. It’s ironic because now all I dream of is a good ol’ pre-covid party time.” Don’t we all? Until then, Better Person provides us with a wonderful alternative…
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 43):
Abbie Ozard – True Romance
If you like artists like Lauran Hibberd and whenyoung (I happen to love them!), do listen to Abbie Ozard as well. After years of writing and playing music in and outside of school, she won a song-writing competition in her hometown. Subsequently, the now Manchester-based artist began to independently release music in 2018. Gradually, she developed her own gritty, ‘80s and ‘90s inspired indie-pop style, with the help of co-producer Rich Turvey (Oscar Lang, Vistas, Blossoms).
True Romance, named after the Quentin Tarantino-written movie from 1993, is Abbie Ozard’s new single. An escapist, upbeat track with guitars, drums and bass equally prominent in the mix.
Just like its predecessor TV Kween, it’s a song that’s romanticising what is actually happening. She explains: “Growing up and living in a small town has made me dream of better things, and being a better person outside the bubble that I live in at the moment. I feel like I’m constantly having some form of identity crisis. I watched True Romance and thought ‘fuck, i just want to be Alabama in this film’ and live this mad life with a cool leopard print coat on and a pink Cadillac. Hopefully one day I’ll be happy with everything that’s going on and the way I am, but for now I’m just gonna carry on wishing I was in True Romance.”
This week, True Romance by Abbie Ozard is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
In the Wildcards 2020 playlist you’ll 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.
Werner’s Weekly (week 43)
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:
- Palace Winter (feat. Penny Police) – Richard (Says Yes) (Wildcard this week)
- Little Quirks – Florence’s Town (Wildcard last week)
- A Girl Called Eddy – Been Around
- Charles – Far Gone
- Creature Comfort – Woke Up Drunk
- Genes – Super Single
- Lauran Hibberd – Boy Bye
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: Icona Pop & Sofi Tukker, Nothing But Thieves, Pearl Jam, Smith & Burrows, and 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.
