Browsing Tag pop
Corine – Un Air De Fête
After two EP’s, French nu-disco queen Corine just released her first full album Un Air De Fête. A long-player with equal parts groove, sensuality and kitsch, where Giorgio Moroder, Nouvelle Vague and even Jean Michel Jarre are never far away. But the singer with the Jane Fonda looks also explores chanson territory in the few ballads present. All in all, the album couldn’t possibly have sounded more French.
Apart from Cocktail, all Corine’s past singles are there: Pourquoi Pourquoi, Il Fait Chaud, Maquillage and Première Traversée. Pourquoi Pourquoi (with its hilarious video) surely deserves to be re-released, now that Corine is ‘hot’ in every sense. But out of the other tunes, the album’s title track is easily my favourite.
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 Charts.
Bent Van Looy – Make Believe
Bent Van Looy has been the frontman of the band Das Pop (which never officially called it quits), drummer in Soulwax, painter, coach in The Voice van Vlaanderen, voice-over, DJ at Studio Brussel… where the hell does he find the time to make records anymore?
Anyhow, last month, the 42-year-old Flemish artist released his latest solo album, the third in a trilogy Van Looy made with the American producer/musician Jason Falkner. Yours Truly sounds a little bit more cheerful than its predecessor Pyjama Days, with rich songs that combine everything between sixties pop and Crowded House.
Album highlight Make Believe is Van Looy’s new single. It opens with a cozy ukulele, an idea he apparently picked up watching a Hawaiian tutorial. Great kick-off of a timeless classic!
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 Charts.
Jenifer – Hey Jen
Jenifer (born Jenifer Yaël Dadouche Bartoli in 1982) is a French singer. Just 20 years old, she won the first season of TV talent show Star Academy. Since then, she released eight albums, although the most recent – Nouvelle Page – almost hadn’t come about. After being involved in a heavy traffic accident in March 2017, the singer considered halting her career. She decided to turn the page however, changing label and management. So, in more ways than one, her present comeback explains the album’s title, which translates as ‘new page’.
My favourite track off the album is Hey Jen. A funky and danceable song with a happy vibe, but a deeper meaning: it’s a rant against the paparazzis who have been following her for 17 years now. Easy on the ears, the message hits hard.
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 Charts.
Wildcard (week 48):
The Lighthouse – Catch Fire
Last week, I introduced you to The Lighthouse’s new single. In the meantime, this great song really ‘caught fire’ with me (pun intended). Therefore, Catch Fire is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard! This means that The Lighthouse, as a true beacon, will feature prominently on the site for a whole week, shining its light upon all of us.
The Lighthouse are 5 Belgian guys who share the love of melodically well-written pop songs. They describe their musical cocktail of polyphonic vocals, guitars, keys and swinging drums as ‘songs that feel like Fridays’.
So far, the band put out two EPs: the self-released Let’s Make A Scene, and Joyride, which was backed by Sony Music. Despite the latter EP’s success, and the doors it opened to stages, festivals and radio stations in Belgium and abroad, The Lighthouse decided to go back to the indie-route for upcoming releases. Their debut album is already planned for the autumn of 2019.
In the Wildcards 2018 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 Charts.
Ana & The Changes feat. Dan Byron – Take My Hand
Ana Ćurčin is a singer-songwriter born in Baghdad, raised in Moscow and based in Belgrade, Serbia. She and her band The Changes (Goran Antović – keyboards, Marko Cvetković – bass and Marko Benini – drums) surprised me live at Eurosonic Noorderslag last January. Following up on 2016’s album Sketches Of Belonging, the quartet release their second album Differences in the Spring of 2019.
Its first single is called Take My Hand. The almost unrecognizable original version was written by Igor Simic and Ana Ćurčin for the soundtrack Radio Nostalgia From Mars of the video game Golf Club Wasteland. It has now been re-recorded, featuring Dan Byron, a Romanian singer-songwriter and frontman of the alternative rock band Byron. This new version has a driving, Coldplay-like piano part, which makes it a great radio track.
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 Charts.
Piroshka – Everlastingly Yours
Miki Berenyi, frontwoman of British shoegazers Lush, has revealed a new project, where she is joined by her partner, KJ McKillop (from the band Moose), as well as their friends, Mick Conroy (Modern English) and Justin Welch (Elastica). Their indie supergroup is named Piroshka, after the Hungarian word for Little Red Riding Hood. Debut album Brickbat is on its way, but the band already shared their first ever single, Everlastingly Yours.
Although it’s a dreamy guitar pop song, don’t be mistaken: Berenyi sings about cruelty and violation. “Trample my dreams on the ground / Tear up my flowers / And scatter the petals around” for instance. Or: “I’m not afraid to reach down inside to something within me / That gives me the power to rip out his heart / And shatter his bones with a smile.” The track closes just as optimistic: “Nobody here / Ever escapes / With no blood on their hands.” Party time, peeps! 😉
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 Charts.
Caezar – Somewhere New
The two founding members of Caezar, singer Chris Quigley and guitarist Rich Gills, decided to form a band in 2014, when they were both suffering from sports injuries that meant they would no longer be able to play rugby for their local club. Their first outfit, rock band Quigley, was rather successful, but when they met keyboard player and vocalist Zoe Dwyer, with her soft synths and sweet-as-honey backing vocals, they changed their musical direction and their name as well; Caezar relates to the initials of all three band members: C (Chris), Z (Zoe) and R (Rich).
The British trio now fuse dance beats with soaring pop melodies, as you can hear from their new single Somewhere New. It precedes their debut EP Hail!, that will be out this week. Already a live favourite, Somewhere New starts off delicately, but the band up the tempo as soon as the pre-chorus sets in. A well-produced modern pop song for early Bastille fans.
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 Charts.
Werner’s Weekly (week 48)
As musically diverse as Andy Burrows & Matt Haig, Harts, Metric, Sam Fender, Weezer, Within Temptation (feat. Jasper Steverlinck) and Youngr may seem, they all have one thing in common: all of them released new music last week, which I added to my Carte Blanche Music playlist. They are in very good company, for it’s not at all my intention to add all new releases to this collection. And tracks that are only so-so in my ears, don’t make the list either. After a very heavy selection procedure, I only added 20 new songs last week.
Only the very best of those additions can be found in my definitive round-up Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. Check them below and/or via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar. Follow the links for more information.
- Starcrawler – Hollywood Ending (Wildcard this week)
- Jonas Brøg feat. Laura Mathilde – I Think Of You I Cry (Wildcard last week)
- Broods – Everything Goes (Wow)
- I Wear* Experiment – Almere
- Navarone – The Strong Survive
- The Lighthouse – Catch Fire
- Yonaka – Death By Love
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 Charts.
Broods – Everything Goes (Wow)
You may not know this great live version of Inna’s Wow, but Kylie’s single Wow is probably better-known. What do these two have in common? They’re both brilliant pop songs and, well, the title of course. Here’s another one that fits the profile…
Everything Goes (Wow) is the new single of New Zealand sibling duo Broods, which consists of singer Georgia Nott and her older multi-instrumentalist brother Caleb Nott. “It’s about accepting the mortality of everything and finding peace in that,” Georgia says of the song.
Broods have just announced details of their third album. It’s entitled Don’t Feed The Pop Monster, and will be released on 1 February 2019. It features both the previously-revealed single Peach, and the new track Everything Goes (Wow).
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 Charts.
Yonaka – Death By Love
Yonaka are one of the most exciting new bands from the UK. From Brighton, to be exact, which is an extra seal of quality nowadays. Fronted by lead singer Theresa Jarvis, the band serves dark alt.pop with cool riffs and catchy hooks.
Following numerous singles and the EP’s Heavy and Teach Me To Fight, Yonaka just released their third EP Creature. Death By Love is my favourite track off it. A great display of what the band stands for musically, and lyrically intriguing as well; the song is written from a serial killer’s perspective…
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 Charts.
