Browsing Tag pop
Sebu feat. Sirusho – Have You Ever Hurt Somebody
In the past decade, Sebu made a name for himself with his band Capital Cities. Most notably with their smash hit Safe And Sound. In 2020, the L.A.-based musician, singer, songwriter and record producer is preparing to share his proudest accomplishment with the world: his debut album Many Faces. The title refers to the wide range of emotions and musical styles present on the album. The record’s wonderful first single The Secret Is Out was a Carte Blanche Music Wildcard last November.
Next up is the equally beautiful song Have You Ever Hurt Somebody, which reunites him with singer/songstress Sirusho. She – like Sebu originally – is from Armenia. In the video, Sebu plays a guilt-ridden boyfriend, who sings “I would rather fight with you than make love to someone else.” At the dramatic climax, he undergoes an emotional and physical transformation, shaving off his iconic beard.
Recommended as well:
Sebu – The Secret Is Out [Lucas Vidal Arrangement]
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.
San Mei – Hard To Face
Emily Hamilton is the daughter of Chinese-Malaysian and New Zealand born parents, who immigrated to Australia at an early age. Encouraged by them, she began her musical journey at the keys of her family piano. Ultimately, armed with just a MIDI-keyboard and a Macbook, San Mei was born. She describes her current musical direction as ‘guitar heavy, delay ridden, dreamy pop’. Basically, this means: listen for yourself to find out.
Her new single Hard To Face is an excellent reason to start checking her out, if you didn’t already. It was produced by Oscar Dawson (Holy Holy, Ali Barter, Alex Lahey), and introduces her upcoming EP.
With Hard To Face, San Mei brings awareness to a widely relatable feeling that is not often articulated. “It felt like every time I looked around everyone else was kicking goals and ticking boxes”, she explains. “And I just felt kind of stuck, and wanted to be where they were or have what they had.” Hard To Face was born out of that frustration. “It felt good to write a song about it. Not that I don’t struggle from time to time, but I think focusing on all the positive things in life helps negate those feelings. I’m learning that having perspective and gratitude is vital in keeping a healthy state of mind.”
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.
Vant – Best Friends
The last, say, ten years, radio has been changing more rapidly than ever before. Thank (or blame) the arrival of streaming and other alternative ways of discovering music for that. But radio used to be slow business, which may make it hard sometimes to them to accept (and adopt to) new realities. In this changing environment, music directors like artists to stay true to themselves. In other words: to continue doing what they did, thus providing some sort of stability, music-wise.
However, artists are creative people, who like to re-invent themselves from time to time. Personally, I love them for that.
Take Mattie Vant, for example. The first incarnation of his band Vant was a pure rock outfit. A few years later, older and wiser however, he decided to surround himself with other musicians and infuse his songs with electronic elements. This resulted in his second album Conceived In The Sky, which already features four singles. The fifth one, Best Friends, should be a no brainer for radio. It’s mid-tempo, and has a vocal melody as sweet as honey. With guitars providing an edge to the track, this is as pop as Vant will ever be.
Recommended as well:
Vant – Mary Don’t Mind
Vant – Exoskeleton
Vant – Propaganda Machine
Vant Beetlebum / Talk Like Thunder
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 3):
Joywave – Half Your Age
Joywave are an American pop-rock band. In 2014, their popular remix of Big Data’s Dangerous meant their own break-through as well. In another expression of their creativity, the band’s 2016 album Swish basically only contained two tracks: Life In A Bubble I Blew and Destruction, plus nine alternative versions of the latter. These versions all had another title, jointly forming the sentence ‘Why be credible when you can be incredible?’ (after the title of singer Daniel Armbruster’s column for The Huffington Post).
Brace yourself for Joywave’s upcoming album Possession, due out on 13 March. Over the past 6 months, the band released the tracks Like A Kennedy, Obsession and Blank Slate, which will all be on the long-player. New single Half Your Age is the latest in this series of new music. A bouncing pop track with a chorus that’s sure to stick in your brain. Joy(wave) to the world! Half Your Age is this week’s new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard.
In the Wildcards 2020 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.
Lush Puppy – Kill For Fun
Only four months after their hilarious Carte Blanche Music Wildcard Ms. Grey, Lush Puppy return with another stomper. Kill For Fun is the first single off their upcoming second EP, which will come out in May. Another song with attitude, built around a synth bass, fuzz guitar, stabs of electronica and tribal chants.
That may sound as a vague description, but what did you expect of this Dutch-Italian duo? Vocalist, artist and stylist Roos Ooteman takes inspiration from Bat For Lashes to the Spice Girls, while Gabriel Vezzola (a.k.a. DJ Gabriel) worked with Sam Feldt, Robin S. and Todd Terry. This couldn’t have ended up in anything other than an exciting, genre-defying collaboration. And that’s exactly what Lush Puppy is.
Recommended as well:
Lush Puppy – Ms. Grey
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.
Nada Surf – So Much Love
How many bands do you know that still exist 34 years after their break-through hit? Nada Surf never ceased being popular, thanks to a career full of great songs and loyal fans. They release a new album every few years, making upcoming long-player Never Not Together (7 February) their ninth.
Something I Should Do was a very fine introduction to the album, but So Much Love deserves to be a bona fide hit. It’s a radio-friendly song with gentle guitars, pretty piano progressions and a captivating chorus.
“So Much Love is a song that celebrates good will between people”, says Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws. “Sometimes it can be hard to remember that it’s there. But it’s all around us. A little tolerance and acceptance can be built on. Small gestures add up. We’re good at love and being kind. It comes naturally to us, but so do other things. You just have to keep looking for the right way to lean.”
Recommended as well:
Nada Surf – Something I Should Do
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 – Say Something
Following last year’s great single Before It Goes Dark, Northampton’s Sarpa Salpa just put out their debut EP Say Something. The catchy title track is the band’s new single. A bass-based banger with soaring synths. With Say Something, Sarpa Salpa created another upbeat, danceable track. Expect unexpected changes, hidden meanings and undeniable influences from the likes of Everything Everything, Tame Impala and Foals.
Recommended as well:
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.
Werner’s Weekly (week 3)
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:
- Overcoats – The Fool (Wildcard this week)
- Harry Styles – Treat People With Kindness (Wildcard last week)
- Beverly Girl – I’m Your Girl
- Charmplay – Hurry
- Pet Shop Boys – Monkey Business
- Rat Boy – Victim Of A System
- Set It Off – So Predictable
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: Ash, Circa Waves, Deacon Blue, Georgia, Halsey, Selena Gomez, Tame Impala, The Wombats, 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.
Oh Wonder – Happy
In anticipation of their new album No One Else Can Wear Your Crown, London-based duo Oh Wonder release its fourth single. Happy is a tune that delivers what its title promises. Just listen to the opening piano notes, that fall like raindrops. Or the uplifting violins that grace the choruses, as if it were a Carly Rae Jepsen song.
The track describes a person who achieved the emotional maturity to wish their ex well. Rumour has it, Happy was inspired by the ex-girlfriend of Anthony West, one half of Oh Wonder. By now, Josephine Vander Gucht is his other half, both musically and in private.
The couple first attracted attention because of their unorthodox approach to releasing their debut album in 2015. They recorded and released one song a month for a year, eventually bundling them on a self-titled long-player. New album No One Else Can Wear Your Crown, their third, will be out on 7 February.
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.
Elsa Birgitta Bekman – All ‘bout Love
Elsa Birgitta Bekman made a good start in 2020. She released the EP All ‘bout Love, which bundles her singles Once In My Life, Desire Lines, and Waiting For You. The fourth song, the EP’s title track, is her new single. A beautiful and delicate song, that once again comes with a stunning video.
Bekman says about All ‘bout Love: “I wrote these lyrics in a pub on a Friday night. My friends had already left, and I should have gone as well, but I didn’t want to be alone. I was very in love at the time, but it wasn’t quite mutual. I hoped he’d change his mind, but he was still in love with his ex. We did date a while. For years, I cherished my love for him, hoping something would change. It didn’t happen.”
Elsa Birgitta Bekman is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music video director/producer with French and Swedish roots. Nostalgia, escapism, romance and melancholy are returning themes in her music and the accompanying videos.
Recommended as well:
Elsa Birgitta Bekman – Desire Lines
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.
