Browsing Tag indie
Don Diablo – Invincible
Dance is one of the Netherlands’ biggest export products. Dutch dance comes in a wide variety, ranging from epic enough for festivals to poppy enough for radio. Progressive and mellow, and everything in between.
Everyone knows Tiësto, Armin (those guys don’t even need a last name) and Martin Garrix, and Don Diablo is another one of the country’s top DJ/producers. Invincible is his new single. It’s the theme song for the AFK Arena game. For this track, he returned to his electro-based roots and created a high energy anthem with two faces. With this track, built around vocoded vocals and futuristic beats, Don Diablo gives Daft Punk a run for their money.
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.
Sarpa Salpa – Stick To What You Know
Sarpa Salpa was formed in 2017 by Marcus Marooth (vocals), George Neath (guitar), Ethan Whitby (bass) and Charlie Doe (drums). In August last year, the band became a five piece with the addition of Meg Amirghisvand (synths). Around that time, they came on my radar with their irresistible single Before It Goes Dark.
Now, the Northampton outfit are back with a new track. And it only takes one quick listen to know: Sarpa Salpa refuse to disappoint. Stick To What You Know is another one of their well-crafted pop songs. Danceable but credible, with catchy guitar lines, driving drums, and infectious oh-oh’s.
Lyrically, the song is less light-hearted. It’s about defying the pressure to follow a traditional career path. Frontman Marcus Marooth says: ”It’s about finding something that you love and pursuing it with everything you’ve got. There is a lot of pressure in society to find a job, settle down then rinse and repeat. This track is about not settling for that 9-5 job you hate for the rest of your life. Something that’s proved more than testing for everyone in 2020.”
Stick To What You Know is a new banger, that’s sure to extend Sarpa Salpa’s status as radio darlings. It’s the second single to be put out ahead of the band’s sophomore EP, due for release in early 2021.
Recommended as well:
Sarpa Salpa – Say Something
Sarpa Salpa – Before It Goes Dark
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.
Skia – Pocket
Skia was born as Annie Norbye. Originally from Oslo, Norway, she’s currently based in Liverpool. However, you can take the girl out of Scandinavia, but you can’t take the Scandipop out of the girl. Luckily, I might add.
Believe it or not, but for her debut single Anyone, released earlier this year, she worked with Paul McCartney. Three singles later, she came up with her first EP Apricot, but her new single is a brand-new track. Prolific lady…
Pocket is an upbeat, sugary-sweet, irresistibly catchy song, built around handclaps, funky guitar chords and punchy percussion. It gives a shoutout to friendships that defy distance and uncertainties.
In Skia’s own words: “I wrote this song when my friend Nina went back to Munich earlier in the year after having a rough time, and I became worried she wasn’t going to come back to Liverpool again. We’ve both made a life in a new country, and the feeling of not knowing where we belong creeps up from time to time. ‘Pocket’ is essentially a song about friendship, and about working through your problems together instead of fleeing from there.”
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.
Monta – All These Goods Are Gone
The name Tobias Kuhn may not ring a bell. I don’t blame you. But let me tell you a little something about him. First, allow me to take you back to the early ‘90s of the last century. 1992 to be exact. That year, Tobias Kuhn was one of the founders of German pop band Miles. Despite releasing four albums, they didn’t achieve the success they should have. Listen to their single Perfect World (2000), and you’ll hear what I mean.
Next, he started his solo project Monta, which put out two critically acclaimed albums in the mid-‘00s. But he only became truly successful as a writer and producer for other artists. He worked with acts as diverse as Die Toten Hosen, Milky Chance, Netsky & Lost Frequencies, Alec Benjamin, The Living End, and Alice Merton. Oh, by the way, he’s currently working with The Kooks on their new album.
Hopefully, after all this name-dropping, you’re ready to listen to a new effort by Kuhn himself, under his Monta moniker. And the name-dropping isn’t over yet, for his new single is co-written by Jet singer Nic Cester. As you might expect, All These Goods Are Gone is a smart and well-produced pop song. It’s Monta’s first release in 13 years’ time, and deserves to become their first proper hit.
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.
Hands Like Houses – Dangerous
Hands Likes Houses are one of Australia’s favourite rock bands. It features Trenton Woodley (vocals), Matt Cooper (guitar), Alex Pearson (guitar/vocals), Joel Tyrrell (bass/vocals) and Matt Parkitny (drums). The Canberra five-piece have multiple awards, critical acclaim, sold out tours and legions of global fans to their name.
Only weeks ahead of their self-titled EP (set for a 23 October release), Hands Like Houses unleash its third single. Dangerous is a hard-hitting track that gives a good impression of what the EP has in store. It’ll be fast and furious, both lyrically and musically.
About the single, Woodley says: “Something about this song has always been uncomfortable for me. When we started, Dangerous was meant to be playful, confident, even arrogant. But as it came together, it felt like a reflection on frustration and losing control when all your confidence falls apart.”
Fans of Biffy Clyro, You Me At Six and Bring Me The Horizon should listen closely. Hands Like Houses might be their next favourite band.
Recommended as well:
Hands Like Houses – Overthinking
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 40):
Boo Seeka – Days Get Better
Boo Seeka are an Australian electro-pop duo featuring best friends Ben Gumbleton and Michael May. Their melodic beats and angular rhythms are both accessible and credible.
In their home country, they received praise ever since they broke through with their first single Kingdom Leader in 2015. Two years later, their debut album Never Too Soon resulted in them playing festivals and sold out shows all over the world.
Touring in support of their upcoming second album will be quite a challenge, but the new music is coming anyway. Their sophomore long-player is planned for early 2021, and Days Gets Better is its latest single. Not wasting any time on an intro, it gets to the point straight away. The track is another fine example of the dynamic energy the duo’s music possesses. Somewhere halfway The Weeknd and Twenty One Pilots, this will sound great on (radio) playlists.
This week, Days Gets Better by Boo Seeka 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 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:
- Pixey – Just Move (Wildcard this week)
- Penfriend – The Only Way Out Is Through (Wildcard last week)
- Django Django – Spirals
- Liza Owen – Getting Good
- Miss Machine – Tout Autour
- The Mountain Goats – Get Famous
- T99 vs. Youngr – Anasthasia [Youngr Bootleg]
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: Bastille, Saint Motel, The Waterboys, 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.
The Neighbourhood – Lost In Translation
In 2013, Los Angeles five-piece The Neighbourhood broke through with Sweater Weather. Originally, this was the AA-side of their 2012 single Female Robbery. Back then, they were a full-on rock band. In 2020 they’ve evolved into a proper pop band.
In the meantime, The Neighbourhood released no less than five albums. Their latest is titled Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones, after an alter-ego of frontman Jesse Rutherford. Covered in silver paint, he introduced Chip Chrome last year, when the band shot the video for the single Middle Of Somewhere.
The first 20 seconds of new single Lost In Translation sound like a The Avalanches record. What follows, is one of The Neighbourhood’s poppiest affairs yet. A super catchy song about miscommunications and crossed signals between lovers, and easily one of the album highlights.
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.
Red Rum Club – The Elevation
For a great live act like Red Rum Club, not being able to play live is a horror scenario. Especially with a new album coming up, that was meant to be heavily promoted by a large chunk of gigs. Obviously, the Liverpudlian sextet are not the only ones with this problem.
Luckily, the tracks on Red Rum Club’s upcoming sophomore album The Hollow Of Humdrum are not only future live staples. They are also very well tailored for radio airplay and inclusion in streaming playlists. The long-player (out on 2 October) contains a wide variety of songs. They range from acoustic ballads to disco themed festival anthems. Expect theatrical brass lines, pop choruses, rumbling bass lines, western guitars and Latin percussion. A melting pot spelled f-u-n.
Following former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard Ballerino, the band now put album opener The Elevation in the spotlights. Another euphoric and shamelessly funky pop tune that begs you to pump up the volume.
Recommended as well:
Red Rum Club – Ballerino
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.
Semisonic – Basement Tapes
Thanks to great tunes like Closing Time, Secret Smile and Chemistry, Semisonic are one of my favourite bands from around the turn of the century. In 2002, following their third album All About Chemistry, the band went on an indefinite hiatus. However, they never broke up. In the meantime, frontman Dan Wilson built a successful career of his own. He was a songwriter and producer for the likes of Pink, Dixie Chicks and Adele, as wel as a solo artist. He is quoted as saying he found it difficult to write new material that sounded like Semisonic.
In 2017, Wilson met Liam Gallagher with the intention to write new songs for the latter. Eventually, the two didn’t work together. Wilson felt the sketches of the songs he wrote for Gallagher were more suitable for Semisonic instead.
In the summer of that year, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their 2016 debut album Great Divide, Semisonic reunited for a series of shows. At these occasions, they played Great Divide in its entirety. At the end of that year, commemorating the upcoming 20th anniversary of their sophomore album Feeling Strangely Fine, they performed the whole of that album a few times. Last year, they came together again to do some more gigs. During these 2017-2019 shows, they also played some of Wilson’s new, previously unreleased ‘Gallagher’ songs.
These tracks have now been properly recorded and released on the EP You’re Not Alone. This is Semisonic’s first collection of new material in 19 years. It contains five fine examples of craft song-writing, as we’ve come to expect. Basement Tapes is my favourite. A great pop-rock song, very well sung and executed by Wilson and his band. A welcome return.
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.
