Browsing Tag pop
Phantom Isle – Four Walls
What do songs like Somebody Told Me by The Killers, Let It Happen by Tame Impala and Paddling Out by Miike Snow have in common? They’re all stadium filling indie anthems. We can now add Four Walls by Phanton Isle to that list.
Short introduction: Phantom Isle are five siblings and childhood friends, who were raised in Northampton but are now based in London. They produce a modern take on old-school rock, that blends soaring vocals with heavy guitars and synths, and doesn’t lack ambition.
They may currently feel trapped between four walls, but they’re destined to break out…
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.
Narda – Love Me Long
Between 2005 and 2013, Dutch brother and sister Radboud en Narda Miedema were writing, recording and performing their own songs in their band Somesay. After releasing the album One Of A Kind and follow-up EP In Bloom, Radboud decided to step out of the limelight to fully focus on song-writing, and successfully so: he (co)wrote Reality by Lost Frequencies & Janieck Devy among many other hits, and started his own music publishing company Roseville. Meanwhile, Narda continued to play live, now as a solo artist, in small bars, restaurants and concert halls, with her loyal companions: a piano and a guitar.
But now, the two are working together again. Narda just released her debut single. A delicate jazzy song, which she wrote herself and was produced by Radboud, who also played upright bass on the track. It’s called Love Me Long, although the plea is less than 2 minutes short.
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 20)
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:
- Aldo Vanucci feat. Kylie Auldist – Get A Hold On This (Wildcard this week)
- The Cheap Thrills – Smile When You Sleep (Wildcard last week)
- Gemme – Sweet Harmony
- Imani Coppola – Rattle
- Swimming Girls – 1 2 Many
- Ten Tonnes – Counting Down
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: Juan Luis Guerra 4:40, Nek, Phil Collins, 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.
Cassia – Movers And Shapers
Cassia may not be a household name yet, but their debut album Replica already features seven singles: 100 Times Over, Sink, Out Of Her Mind, Get Up Tight, Loosen Up, Small Spaces and the title track. Does this make Cassia the first band to release a ‘best of’ set as their first album? 😉
Whether this is the case or not, Replica is a very fine compilation of what the band have been up to the last years, and in case you missed that, it’s the best possible introduction. Cassia is a British trio that combine indie-pop with elements of tropical and world music, not unlike Vampire Weekend did early in their career.
Next to the seven singles, this long-player counts four new tracks. Funnily, Movers And Shapers was the title of an EP the band released in 2018, but the EP’s title track features on this album for the first time.
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.
Gemme – Sweet Harmony
Some songs have been covered more often than you’d think. Sweet Harmony by The Beloved, for instance. One of the most recent versions of that 1992 classic was recorded a year and a half ago by She Drew The Gun, and now, a new cover has come out. But let me start at the beginning…
During the 1980s, Xavier Jamaux was drummer in French indie-rock band Orange. Two of his fellow-members, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, famously went on to form Air and scored hits like Sexy Boy, All I Need and Kelly Watch The Stars. After Orange, Jamaux composed music for numerous films and commercials, and made many remixes.
His most recent project is called Gemme. Appropriately, Gemme is a female name, but also means ‘jewel’. As a project, Gemme is a jewel as well, consisting of five French and Belgian female singers: Nubia Esteban (the daughter of Lio, whose 1980 hit Amoureux Solitaires you may remember), Loane, Alka Balbir, Barbara Carlotti and Elodie Frégé. Their debut single is a cover of – as you might have guessed – Sweet Harmony by The Beloved. Next to the English choruses, however, the verses have been translated in French, making this a real Frenglish affair. In the sensual black and white video, Helena Noguerra (Lio’s half-sister) also plays a role.
The French word ‘gemme’ is pronounced as ‘j’aime’, and it’s true: I love it!
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.
Imani Coppola – Rattle
In 1997, singer, rapper, songwriter and producer Imani Coppola debuted with her fresh, happy and sunny album Chupacabra, where she played most violin, guitar and synth parts herself. How about that for a multi-talent? Her Donovan-sampling single Legend Of A Cowgirl became a huge hit, prompting her record label to demand the artist to make a second sample-heavy album. She refused and was dropped. End of story? One hit wonder? No way!
Coppola took the DIY route and continued making albums. Also, she teamed up with Adam Pallin as Little Jackie (who’s 2008 single The World Should Revolve Around Me is still a gem), and she arranged and played strings for Dido and Hanson.
Now, she’s back in the spotlights again. Ahead of her upcoming album New Protagonist, she just released the dynamic, bold, energetic and ultra-short single Rattle. An overtly political statement, addressing the current state of the United States.
Coppola says about it: “This is not the time to shy away from difficult subject matters. Now is the time to grab them by the f**king balls. (…) As soon as I took the proverbial earplugs out of my ears, I cried for days. I felt so ashamed for having tried to hide from it. How selfish and foolish of me to not want to be a part of this. I needed to make music as entertaining and upsetting as America itself is right now.”
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.
Ten Tonnes – Counting Down
Ten Tonnes (the stage name of Ethan Barnett), recorded their self-titled first album with producers Hugo White (formerly of The Maccabees) and Dan Gretch (Wolf Alice, The Killers, Liam Gallagher). It’s a great debut, including many former singles, like Lucy, Silver Heat, Cracks Between, Lay It On Me, G.I.V.E. and Better Than Me.
In other words: you may already know half of the 12 tracks, but there’s a lot to enjoy amongst the other songs. The driving rocker Counting Down, for instance, would make a great single as well.
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.
Among The Citizens – Next Time
John Gooding, Ollie Green, Christy Hoyles and James McGonigle are four 19-year-olds from Peterborough (UK) with a ‘we are really just regular guys’ attitude, who collaboratively call themselves Among The Citizens.
As young as they may be, the band have their own distinct sound, drawing influences from ‘80s gods The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen, to modern-day heroes like Two Door Cinema Club and Foals. Think dreamy vocals and layers of instrumentation including infectious guitars and memorable synthesisers, and you have an idea of what to expect.
Lead singer John Gooding describes Next Time as ‘the breakdown of communication between two people; where each other’s thoughts and emotions are always pushed back. Left until the end to talk about, where the questions you both ask always go unanswered and no problem seems to have a clear solution to it’.
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.
Swimming Girls – 1 2 Many
When studying in Bath (UK), four students were put together entirely randomly as part of a ‘musical project’, and asked to, quite simply, ‘write a song’. Soon, they discovered they all had a fixation on the warmth and nostalgia of ‘70s and ‘80s pop, drawing inspiration from artists like The Cure, Cyndi Lauper and Culture Club. Listening to their own songs, I’d say more contemporary influences come from bands such as Pale Waves, Haim and Anteros. All of those have featured on Carte Blanche Music multiple times, so what can go wrong? Well, nothing, basically…
After a hand full of singles, Swimming Girls will put out their debut EP Existential Fears in 14 June. 1 2 Many is its first single. Billed as a break-up song, the track channels the reckless, self-destructive feelings that can sometimes follow a break-up, tapping into the insecurities of us all. However, 1 2 Many is a call to embrace your mistakes and ‘rejoice in momentary romantic relapses’, instead of dwelling in the self-deprecating feelings that are so easy to turn to in these situations.
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.
Liss – Talk To Me
Sophisticated pop outfit Liss emerged in the mid-‘10s under a cloud of buzz with their acclaimed singles Try and Always (2015), and EP First (2016). Then, all went quiet… But luckily, the Danish four-piece are now back after a hiatus with a new, self-produced track.
As bassist Villads Tyrrestrup says, Talk To Me is about ‘the ups and downs of being a young adult in this world; sexuality, being in and out of relationships, and self-care’. The tracks is built around a gentle bassline, soft synths and a slightly experimental beat; a perfect fit in today’s pop scene. If you like The 1975, for instance, do try Liss.
Talk To Me is the first single off Liss’s new EP Second, to be released on 18 June.
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.
