Browsing Tag pop
Jealous Of The Birds – Blue Eyes
Judging by the singles off it, Jealous Of The Birds forthcoming EP will be great. Wisdom Teeth (available on 1 February) was preceded by the lovely single Marrow, and now, Blue Eyes is released as the second teaser.
Blue Eyes is a more full-on pop rock song, with funky bass and chunky guitars. On top of this groovy backdrop, Naomi Hamilton a.k.a. Jealous Of The Birds sings of the incomparable rush of a new sexual attraction with the owner of the titular ‘Blue Eyes’. The chorus, especially, is very strong, with it’s repeated ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah’.
The singer explains: “There’s something powerful to me about femininity being self-reflexive as opposed to being expressed through the male gaze. I tried to translate that grit and sass by going for heavier instrumentation, funky bass lines and pop vocal melodies. Honestly, I just want to make the listener dance and feel good. Out of all the songs on the Wisdom Teeth EP, this was perhaps the most musically direct and enjoyable to record.”
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.
Model Depose – Bombs Are Falling
It looks like Model Depose enjoy the silence. After their EP’s Untitled (2011) and Nightwatch (2013) they spent another three years to finish their debut album Splitting Light. Since then, another three years have passed. But… a new album is expected ‘in 2019’ (which potentially means ‘at the end of the year’). Luckily, the Dutch electronic pop band just put forward the album’s first single.
Bombs Are Falling is further proof of their profound love of Depeche Mode. It was the first song the band ever wrote, but they re-wrote it to suit their contemporary style. The song is inspired by a personal experience with the stress that might remain after having been in a war zone.
Bombs Are Falling is the first in a string of singles. The next one can be expected in March, after which Model Depose will release a new track every month. You do the maths… fat chance we’ll have to wait for that new album until next Autumn.
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.
Alice Merton – Learn To Live
A year and a half after her break-through single No Roots, and exactly one year after I saw her promising performance at showcase festival ESNS, Alice Merton delivers her debut album Mint. Next to No Roots, her singles Lash Out, Why So Serious and Funny Business are present, so it’s definitely worth your time.
The first song you’ll hear when you listen to the album is Learn To Live. A great track, with the same kind of thumping bass line as the one that made the German singer a star in the rest of Europe. This is Alice Merton in mint condition, ready for the rest of the world!
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 4):
Sigrid – Don’t Feel Like Crying
Since her 2017 debut single Don’t Kill My Vibe earned Sigrid Solbakk Raabe a European Border Breakers Award the year after, she continued to score hits like Strangers, High Five and, most recently, Sucker Punch. All of them are expected to appear on the Norwegian singer’s first album Sucker Punch, that will be out in March.
Ahead of the long player, Sigrid provides us with one more taster. A great sophisticated pop song. Don’t Feel Like Crying deserves to be as big a hit as Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe, for instance.
“There’s a certain grace to heartache,” Sigrid says of the new track. “A sort of… epic grace! I like good, heartfelt pop songs.” So do I, that’s why Don’t Feel Like Crying is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
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.
Ivan & The Parazol – Changin’
For some strange reason, record labels, radio makers, music directors (and as a consequence: consumers) hardly look beyond bands from Great-Britain, the United States and their own country. While there is so much more to enjoy! Take Kelemen Kabátban, Margaret Island, and Punnany Massif for instance. All very different acts, with a few things in common: they make great music, they’re from Hungary, and I featured them here at Carte Blanche Music.
Garage rock band Ivan & The Parazol are another group from Hungary, incorporating the spirit of 70’s glam-rock and modern psych-rock into their music. Their third album Exotic Post-Traumatic will drop in March and was produced by Wil Anspach, who worked with acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Muse, Justin Timberlake and Frank Ocean before.
Changin’ is Ivan & The Parazol’s new single. A song with great guitar licks and a groovy bassline. Could have been a Reef 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 Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Superbird – Cola Bottle Fizz
Prince may have passed away, but his legacy is alive and kicking. Artists like Janelle Monáe and Harts don’t hide their admiration for the purple one, and you can add Superbird to that list.
Superbird are a British trio, consisting of Joe Sin (lead vocals, guitar), Alex Ash (drums, vocals), and Freddy Sidero (bass, vocals). Their debut single Cola Bottle Fizz is an uplifting slice of funky pop, with a groovy retro 80’s vibe that’s sure to make you dance. They’re a welcome arrival in a world that takes itself way too seriously. Superbird will make you happy!
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.
Judah & The Lion – Over My Head
In December last year, Nashville-based band Judah & The Lion released their first new music since their latest album Folk Hop n’ Roll. Not one, but two tracks: Quarter-Life Crisis and Pep Talk. Only a month later, they keep the vibe going with yet another new track.
Over My Head is an energetic, synth- and banjo-driven track (but far from country music), which offers a deeply personal look into vocalist Judah Akers’ mindset during a time that was both professionally exciting and personally turbulent. “I was on the road and homesick,” he recalls. “So that feeling’s rushing in, mom’s not doing well, not talking to dad, my sister’s sad. All these thoughts were happening and I was so overwhelmed with life. I was medicating and distracting myself in different ways so I could get through.”
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 4)
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:
- Jon Tessier – For A Little Eye Candy (Wildcard this week)
- Lizzo – Juice (Wildcard last week)
- American Authors – Stay Around
- Jesse Hite – When It All Comes Down
- Stats – Lose It
- Videoclub – Roi
- whenyoung – Never Let Go
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: The Cranberries, The Dandy Warhols, Hozier, Jade Bird, Joe Jackson, Sigrid, Yungblud 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.
Mighty Oaks – Driftwood Seat
Eight years have passed since Ian Hooper, Craig Saunders, and Claudio Donzelli of Berlin-based band Mighty Oaks self-released their first EP Driftwood Seat. Although the collection was never officially released – not supported by a label anyway – the songs garnered several hundred thousand plays on SoundCloud.
While working on their third album, the band decided to have another go at the four songs on the EP that started their career, and whose title track closed almost every show over the years. The new recording reflects the current change over time: not a radical rework but a natural evolution.
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.
whenyoung – Never Let Go
2018 was a good year for Irish-born, London-based band whenyoung. Their debut single Pretty Pure was a banger straight away, just like their first EP Given Up, which featured follow-up Heaven On Earth.
Never Let Go is the band’s first offering of the new year. Vocalist and bassist Aoife Power explains: “It’s a song about mental health and hope. It’s a message to let people know that you can share your pain with others. It’s a reminder that someone is always there for you even in the darkest times. There is always a reason to not let go.”
The band photo on the artwork shows what you can also hear in the music: it has become more stylish, more sophisticated. The guitars are less prominent in the mix, in favour of synths. This gives the song a fuller sound, ready for radio and hopefully a next step towards the masses.
If you happen to be at showcase festival ESNS in Groningen, the Netherlands: tomorrow (18 January) they play in venue Vrijdag from 10:50PM. See you 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.
