Browsing Tag pop
Twan Ray – It Never Feel Right
For some people, the COVID-19 pandemic was a blessing in disguise. Take 21-year-old Amsterdam singer-songwriter Twan Ray for instance. When he found himself in quarantine, he locked himself in his bedroom for weeks. He only connected with himself (via the mirror) and with songwriter/producer Radboud Miedema (via the internet). The latter wrote global hits with the likes of Lost Frequencies and Alle Farben before, amassing over 1 billion streams.
Together, they decided to take the DIY path. In lockdown, without a label, they wrote and recorded an album’s worth of tracks, which they are releasing independently, one by one. This approach was an instant success. First single We Could Start A Thing was immediately picked up by Spotify in their home country the Netherlands, and added to some important Dutch playlists. The international playlist Fresh And Chill quickly followed, resulting in almost 2 million streams to date.
I was given the chance to listen to all of the recorded tracks at an early stage and allowed to give my feedback. I commented I seldomly heard lo-fi recordings that were so well produced. Sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? Also, I indicated It Never Feel Right was my favourite track of the bunch. And guess what? That’s Twan Ray’s new single. With only an acoustic guitar, a slightly transformed voice and a smart whistle, it’s as uncomplicated as it is irresistible.
Follow Twan Ray on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Baby FuzZ feat. LP – Before Our Time
Has glam rock just made its comeback? Sure sounds like it…
Baby FuzZ is a new project of Brandon Lowry. As part of production team Robopop, he co-wrote and co-produced hits for Gym Class Heroes (Stereo Hearts) and Lana Del Rey (Video Games). Later, under the guise of Sterling Fox, he worked with artists like Avicii, Kylie Minogue, Adam Lambert, Britney Spears, Tiësto and Elle King.
Immediately after the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President, Lowry moved to Montreal, Canada for a year. When he came back, he abandoned the Sterling Fox moniker and re-emerged as Baby FuzZ. His soon to be released second album Welcome To The Future was entirely made in quarantine. That goes for new single Before Our Time as well. A modern glam rock track, including a guitar solo that could’ve been Brian May’s. The song also features LP, although her vocals appear unrecognizably distorted.
Following comments from some of LP’s fans, Baby FuzZ explained: “We wrote the song together. It was originally a consideration for her album, but didn’t make it on. So I decided with her permission to release it as a separate song. You can hear her vocals in the chants on all choruses and layered in throughout. I wish I could have added more of her vocals, but it was too difficult with quarantine to do more.”
Follow Baby FuzZ on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
Follow LP on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Baby Queen – Raw Thoughts
You won’t hear Bella Latham complain about 2020, the year she debuted as Baby Queen. Her first EP Medicine, which compiled her singles so far, resulted in tours with Yungblud and Sea Girls. If her new single is anything to go by, 2021 promises to become another massive year for her.
Written near the beginning of 2018, Raw Thoughts is one of the first songs Latham wrote under her artist name. She had just gone through a terrible break-up, and discovering partying was like discovering freedom. “I had realized that I could do or be whoever I wanted to be, even though the only thing I wanted was to be loved by them again”, Baby Queen says of that period. To her, the song describes every feeling she felt at that point in time. “It’s euphoria bleeding into my deep sadness.”
The lyrics may be honest and naked, but Raw Thoughts is fully produced. It’s an infectious, hook-laden indie-pop banger.
Follow Baby Queen on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Son Mieux – 1992
‘2021 will bring a lot of new music from the band’ it says on Son Mieux’ website. Well, they didn’t wait too long to fulfill that promise. 1992 is the The Hague band’s new single. It comes two years after their debut album Faire De Son Mieux (French for: ‘getting the most out of yourself’).
Front man Camiel Meiresonne calls the single ‘a letter to my younger self and the start of a new chapter’. That new chapter, their second album, is called The Mustard Seed. However, there’s no mentioning a release date yet. 1992 is an exciting track with a prominent piano melody, and horns and strings thrown into the mix. A welcome return from a band that deserves to break out of the Netherlands.
Recommended as well:
Nothing
Everyday
Follow Son Mieux on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Eva No – 100%
In 2019, Swedish songwriter Eva Nordell launched an artist career under the moniker Eva No. Only a few months after her debut EP History Of Now, she puts out the brand new song 100%. It highlights someone going all-in with love. Musically, it’s a camp track with big drums, handclaps and an overall ‘90s pop sound. In fact, it’s got ‘Eurovision’ written all over it in big blinking red neon letters.
To Popmuzik blog she revealed the writing process: “This song has come about just like all my songs. I get a melody in my head and if I’m lucky, it’s followed by a snippet of text that I can then build on. I always try to finish the whole song in my head before I record it. Should I forget the melody, that’s just a proof it’s not strong enough, haha. So then I have to start all over again.”
Follow Eva No on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
The Washing Line Economy – In As Many Minutes
The Washing Line Economy are four friends from Perth. They’ve been performing around Western Australia since July 2018, refining and expanding their live show. Last October, they released their debut album Supply And Demand. The 10 songs on it are about growing up, fitting into society, defying the idea of society, love and heartbreak.
In As Many Minutes, the band’s new single, is an upbeat, sunny indie-pop gem. According to the band it was written ‘to express the feelings felt when lovers are separated by 1000’s of kilometres’.
Follow The Washing Line Economy on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Wildcard (week 2):
Black Honey – Believer
Brighton 4-piece Black Honey go from strength to strength. I described their recent single Beaches as ‘their finest moment’, but this new one is even better. It’s the kind of track words like ‘stomper’ and ‘belter’ were invented for. Will it be a hit? Probably not, but who cares?
Yet, Believer is an earwormy, foot-stomping track, with echoes of Primal Scream in it. Not in the least because of the trumpets and bar piano that spice it up. Lyrically, it’s a rather spicey cut as well. Talking about the track, singer Izzy B. Phillips explains: “Believer is a song to accompany your existential crisis. I wanted a religious satire that was eye rolling at all the patriarchal nonsense of spiritual sense of self. I wanna believe in me, the outsider and the underdog. It’s like coming of age, coming out and coming up.”
The single is the fourth taste off Black Honey’s sophomore album Written And Directed, set for release on 19 March. The record, which follows their self-titled debut album, was written in 2019 and recorded in between the band’s tour commitments.
Black Honey’s Believer is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, which means it’ll feature here prominently for a whole week.
Recommended as well:
Black Honey – Beaches
Follow Black Honey on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2021 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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Werner’s Weekly (week 2)
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:
- Philippine – Bah Non. (Wildcard this week)
- Tate McRae – R U OK (Wildcard last week)
- Beks – The Thing About Us
- Daði Freyr & Ásdís – Feel The Love
- Päter feat. Alexandra Willett – MTL
- † † † (Crosses) – The Beginning Of The End
- Harry Styles – Treat People With Kindness
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: London Grammar, Foo Fighters, Róisín Murphy, 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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Therapie Taxi – Eté 90
In the few years they’ve been active, French band Therapie Taxi attracted a large audience. Their single Hit Sale (feat. Roméo Elvis) especially, was a big, eh… hit. In its slipstream their same-titled debut album sold 170.000 pieces in France alone.
Therefore, the announcement of the group disbanding came as quite a surprise last December. Luckily, they recorded a last EP to say goodbye. Also, a final tour is planned for next summer.
Therapie Taxi’s final EP Rupture 2 Merde is out now. It contains seven electronic pop songs, just what their fans were waiting for. Eté 90 is the band’s last single. Enjoy it while it lasts…
Recommended as well:
Candide Crush
Cri Des Loups
Hit Sale (feat. Roméo Elvis)
Follow Therapie Taxi on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Lucy Spraggan – Animal
The public first got to know Lucy Spraggan in 2012, when she participated shortly in ‘The X Factor’. But before that, she already had her self-released debut album out (which got wings after the TV show). It also resulted in the young singer-songwriter becoming a well-known female champion for the LGBTQ community.
Nine years later, Spraggan is about to put out her sixth long-player Choices, due for release on 26 February. As always, the songs were inspired by her own experiences, and the humourous lyrics breathe her personality. Choices gives an insight in an artist who has matured and grown, both musically and personally.
After the release of Flowers, Sober, Roots, and Run (in 2020), Spraggan starts the new year with a new single. Animal is a song with Indian influences. Speaking on the track, she says: “I do a lot of skipping, ‘cause I do a lot of working out and do a lot of weight lifting. My favourite thing to skip to is Bollywood music. It’s fucking sick! Bollywood music, bhangra music – we don’t have a Western rhythm like that. There’s so much energy and it makes me feel so passionate and alive. I was skipping and came in and just started writing that little guitar riff.”
Recommended as well:
Lucy Spraggan – Today Was A Good Day
Lucy Spraggan – Modern Day Frankenstein
Follow Lucy Spraggan on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
