Browsing Tag indie
Hayley Mary – The Piss, The Perfume
So, I was in Australia the last month. A great country/continent, with a great music scene. A lot of bands from down under have graced these pages already, and I will continue to ask your attention for them.
One of Australia’s most popular bands is The Jezabels. With the group on hiatus since 2017, it was only a matter of time before frontwoman Hayley Mary went solo. Her debut single The Piss, The Perfume was produced by Scott Horscroft (Silverchair, Middle Kids, The Presets). Part punk, part classic American rock, the track doubles as both a love song and an ode to the singer-songwriter’s hometown Sydney.
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.
Latest Wildcards: Client Liaison, Sheila & The Kit, Kasador, Lizzo & Ariana Grande
Aaaaaaaaaand, we’re back! After a great holiday in Australia, I’m completely ready to continue and recommend you the best new tracks. Most of them are too good for the radio, but as a music missionary man, I see it as my duty to provide them with a platform. In the end, of course, it’s you who decides.
October wasn’t only a great month to take some time off, it was also a great month for new music. Traditionally, in anticipation of the year-end period, October is a month with many releases. This year is no exception. Throughout my holiday, I updated my Carte Blanche Music Spotify playlist regularly. Head over there for an overview of recent new tracks you wouldn’t want to miss. Today, I’ll also resume my recommendations on this blog. But for a start, let me present to you the Carte Blanche Music Wildcards of the past four weeks:
Week 40: Client Liaison – The Beat Supreme
It only felt appropriate that the first Wildcard during my holiday would come from an Australian act. Enter indie-pop duo Client Liaison, consisting of Monte Morgan (vocals), and Harvey Miller (keyboards, producer). I wrote about their earlier single The Real Thing before. The band are influenced by late ’80s and early ’90s electronic and house music, as can be heard again on their new single The Beat Supreme.
Week 41: Sheila & The Kit – Mike [Edit]
Easy Lover by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins was the very first Wildcard in 1985. Mike by Sheila & The Kit was #1800! It’s a track off the Dutch alternative synth-pop outfit’s first EP, appropriately titled EP. Since it lasts 7’39 on there, but I suggested it should be edited and put out as a single. And ta-dah… someone listened 😉. Although four and half a minute have been chopped off, the song still has the same great vibe and energy. It now fits the dance floor and the radio!
Week 42: Kasador – Givin’ It Up
You may know Canadian indie-rock band Kasador from their recent track High Rise. This is one of the 12 tracks on their debut album Brood And Bloom. The long-player was partly produced by Rob Baker and Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip, and partly by Graham Walsh (Sam Roberts, Lights, Wintersleep). The latter produced the band’s new single Givin’ It Up.
Week 43: Lizzo & Ariana Grande – Good As Hell [Remix]
In 2016, Lizzo recorded Good As Hell for the soundtrack of the movie ‘Barbershop: The Next Cut’. It also served as the lead single from her debut EP Coconut Oil. Following her performance at the MTV Music Video Awards, it’s climbing up the Billboard charts. A new version of the song, as a duet with Ariana Grande, will only enhance this success. A well-deserved belated 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.
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:
- Georgia – Never Let You Go (Wildcard this week)
- Mélodie Lauret – 23h28 (Wildcard last week)
- Ana & The Changes – Beneath My Lungs / I Turned 30 Yesterday
- Lizzo – Good As Hell
- Madame Psychosis – Kapow
- Sheila & The Kit – Mike
- The Lighthouse – Pretty Classy
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: Liam Gallagher, Sløtface, Tegan & Sara, Temples, 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.
Sheila & The Kit – Mike
Following a string of singles and a maxi-single with remixes, Sheila & The Kit just released their first EP. And just to be clear, the Dutch alternative synth-pop outfit called it EP. It contains the past single Ruffhouse and two long tracks: Liar Liar (6’29) and Mike (7’39).
Although I’m a sucker for radio edits and I love a song that makes its point within three and a half minute or so, Mike is a monster track. Made for the dance floor, not for the radio, obviously. In the long, instrumental mid-piece the duo go completely bezerk to great effect. In this case, size does matter (although I’d love to make a radio edit of it, for more exposure 😉 ).
Recommended as well:
Sheila & The Kit – Time Again
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.
Madame Psychosis – Kapow
Madame Psychosis are a five-piece, female-led, alt-pop/indie-rock band, based in Toronto, Canada. But let’s talk about that name first. It comes from a David Foster Wallace book called Infinite Jest. One of the characters in the book, Joelle Van Dyne, goes by the moniker of Madame Psychosis. The band loved the name, so they adopted it as theirs.
Then, more importantly, the music. The band tend to say their music sounds like a cross between The Black Keys and Alabama Shakes. Others also mentioned similarities to Metric and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. With a description like that, it’s a complete mystery to me why Madame Psychosis didn’t cross my path earlier than this week.
The band just released their second album Survivor. It contains the great singles Just Wanna Be Myself, Crashing Down, and the most recent one: Kapow. Mindful of the slogan ‘don’t bore us, get to the chorus’, they don’t waste any time on an intro. And less than a minute after the explosive opening chords, we hear the first guitar solo. Furthermore, the up-beat feel-good song contains a catchy chorus that’s impossible not to sing along to.
In Madame Psychosis’ words: “Kapow highlights the pursuit that lies at the heart of getting someone you’re interested in to give you a chance, and the heart-dropping moment of being rejected. This song is easily one of our favourites to perform live with its high-energy vibe. We wanted to create a fun summer song that people could sing along to and we believe we pulled it off.” Like hell they did!
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.
Larkins – Not Enough Love
Larkins are one of the most exciting and in-demand bands to emerge from Manchester in recent times. This summer, they released their Sugar Sweet EP, containing most of their earlier singles. Now, it’s time for a brand-new track.
Not Enough Love is rich with synth-infused guitars and will go down well with fans of The 1975. It finds the four-piece reminiscing on nostalgic times and looking forward to the future. Regarding the single frontman Josh Noble says: “Not Enough Love was born from thinking about our hometown. I just remember feeling like we just had to get out of there and moving to Manchester was such a big deal for us. The production is my favourite yet. We slowed stuff down to record and then sped it up to create really cool guitar tones. I think lyrically I just wanted to talk about everything that went on when I was a kid and being so frustrated with the politics that comes with a small suburban town.”
Larkins are currently recording their debut album with producers Dan Nigro (A-Trak, Sky Ferreira, Lewis Capaldi), Andrew Dawson (Kanye West, Fun, Kid Cudi) and Chris Zane (Friendly Fires, Passion Pit).
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.
Ana & The Changes – Beneath My Lungs / I Turned 30 Yesterday
When Ana & The Changes started a crowdfunding for their second album, they announced it would be named Beneath My Lungs. As you might have expected from a band called The Changes, they eventually changed the title to Differences.
What didn’t change, was their constant high level of song-writing. Serbia-based Ana Ćurčin must be among the most talented singer-songwriters of her region. To me, Beneath My Lungs (which was once meant to be the album’s title track) is one of the stand-out tracks. A wonderful piece of sophisticated pop, with a lovely piano, an inimitable drum pattern and subtle backing vocals.
For another album highlight, listen to I Turned 30 Yesterday. A lovely song that pairs an infectious organ part with an instrument as unlikely as a kazoo, to great effect.
Recommended as well:
Ana & The Changes – Differences
Ana & The Changes feat. Dan Byron – Take My Hand
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 39):
Georgia – Never Let You Go
I can’t wait for the new year, for it’s sure to start with a bang. On 10 January 2020, Georgia will release her second album Seeking Thrills. Each new single off it is better than the one before. The best so far, About Work The Dancefloor, was a Carte Blanche Music Wildcard in April.
Now, Georgia repeats that feat with her brand-new single Never Let You Go. A Robyn-esque song with a ludicrous catchiness, that was entirely played by the talented London artist and producer. Easily one of the best pop songs of the year so far, this is the one that should propel her onto radio playlists around the globe. If not, music directors should be fired and replaced by people with ears.
As a stamp of approval, let me remind you one last time that Georgia is the daughter of Leftfield’s Neil Barnes. But soon, he’ll be referred to as the father of Georgia. Never Let You Go is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. The repeat button was invented for this kind of songs.
Recommended as well:
Georgia About Work The Dancefloor
Georgia – Started Out
Georgia – Feel It
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.
The Lighthouse – Pretty Classy
Following two EP’s in 2016 and 2017, The Lighthouse are about to put their debut album in the spotlights. The long-player, Whatever Comes Our Way, will see the light of day on 27 September. Ahead of it, the Belgian electronic pop band release its 4th, bass-heavy single.
Pretty Classy sounds fiercer than its predecessors, thanks to well-placed bursts of guitar over a bed of synths. A roaring mix between melodical alt-pop and stadium guitar rock.
Recommended as well:
The Lighthouse – Tel Aviv
The Lighthouse – Catch Fire
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.
Lilly Among Clouds – Girl Like Me
German singer-songwriter Lilly Among Clouds is well-known for her epic pop ballads. But for her upcoming second album Green Flash, she wanted to stay away from that. Half of the songs or more should be happy, or at least groovy.
While staying true to her beloved piano, she also tries out new sounds. One example is the spinet on new single Girl Like Me. Golden Brown by The Stranglers instantly springs to mind. That said, it’s as epic a pop song as we’ve come to love her for.
Recommended as well:
Lilly Among Clouds – Listen To Your Mama
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.
