Browsing Tag pop
Wildcard (week 30):
Baker Grace – Sad Summer
How is your summer, so far? Is it a time of joy where you go to the beach, hang out with friends, travel or just have a jubilant time in the sun? Or is it less exciting, and is that only made worse by what we see on social media? If you’re in the latter group, Baker Grace is with you.
The 18-year-old New Jersey pop songstress wrote a song that speaks to the introvert in all of us. “Sad Summer is an anthem for the people who need a break from social media”, she shares. “The pressure to be happy all the time, to look good all the time, and to always be doing something cool.”
The intro sounds like the theme song of an ‘80s TV series. Then, Baker starts singing in a staccato style, reminiscent of Lizzo’s performance in Juice. Next, she comes up with a hook that’s unlikely to leave your brain anytime soon: “Gonna be a sad sad summer, such a bummer / I could be falling in love but baby I don’t give a fuck.”
Eventually, Sad Summer is the ultimate anti-summer anthem. A colourful tune for the introverted Instagram generation of today. Also, it is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard! So maybe it isn’t such a sad summer for Baker Grace, after all.
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.
Twin Peaks – Dance Through It
In the early ‘90s, I was a huge fan of Twins Peaks, the TV series by David Lynch. Some 20 years later, I started being a huge fan of Twin Peaks, the band from Chicago. Their latest studio album dates back to 2016, but the group will release their fourth full length, Lookout Low, in September. It has been produced by Ethan Johns (Kings Of Leon, Ryan Adams and Counting Crows, among many others).
Dance Through It, one of Twin Peaks’ smoothest and sultry tracks yet, is the album’s first single. It is said to have started off as a demo that sounded like a Sheryl Crow song, but along the way, it grew into a tune with a soulful vibe. It fully comes to life in the final minute, when a few more horns inject some extra spirit.
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.
Charli XCX feat. Christine & The Queens – Gone
When two pop powerhouses join forces, what can go wrong? Well, quite a lot in fact, but in this case, it works out brilliantly. The audience first witnessed this collaboration when Christine & The Queens singer Héloïse Letissier joined Charli XCX during her show at the Primavera Sound festival. The studio version is out now.
Gone is a song with ‘pop’ written all over it. Its pulsating rhythms are built with ’80s drums and ’90s synths, but still manage to have a futuristic sound. Charli XCX reveals: “This song is about feeling isolated and alone in crowded rooms, the feelings of anxiety and learning to be comfortable with who you truly are. It’s about breaking down and breaking free. It feels like one big external scream.”
Her third studio album Charli, out in September, is bound to be a star studded affair of Ed Sheeran-like proportions. You have been warned…
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.
Bishop Briggs – Champion
Inspired by her parents’ hometown, Bishopbriggs, in Scotland, Sarah Grace McLaughlin uses Bishop Briggs as her stage name. At age four, she moved with her parents to Tokyo and later to Hong Kong. She was 18 when she moved to Los Angeles, to start her musical career.
Her 2018 debut album Church Of Scars was partly a ‘best of’ of the singles she released previously. That same year, she put out the brand-new song Baby. Now, the follow-up single Champion is here. Co-written by recent Carte Blanche Music favourite K.Flay, it’s exactly what the title promises.
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 30)
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:
- Call Me Loop – Self Love (Wildcard this week)
- Frank Turner – Sister Rosetta (Wildcard last week)
- Casey Lowry – Boyfriend
- Inspired & The Sleep – Getting Through
- Lily Moore – Over You
- Nix Dadry (feat. Julie Claire) – Station Street East
- The Bird & The Bee (feat. Beck) – Hot For Teacher
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: Angèle, Jonas Brothers, Kraak & Smaak, The Pale White, Rita Ora, 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.
The Bird & The Bee (feat. Beck) – Hot For Teacher
Inara George is the daughter of Little Feat’s Lowell George, and Greg Kurstin produced everyone from Lily Allen, Sia and Adele to Beck, Kendrick Lamar and Foo Fighters. In 2004, Kurstin contributed piano to several tracks on George’s solo debut. It was then they laid the foundation for The Bird & The Bee, a jazz-influenced electro-pop project.
Since their 2006 debut EP Again And Again And Again And Again, they released four full albums. One of them was Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall & John Oates. No need to explain the concept of that album, I presume?
As you could also have guessed from the title, The Bird & The Bee intended to give more acts their re-interpretation treatment. Well, on 2 August, Interpreting The Masters Volume 2: A Tribute To Van Halen will see the light of day. Ahead of it, they already released their versions of Panama and Ain’t Talking ‘bout Love, but I like their new single Hot For Teacher the best. Not in the least because of the teacher, impersonated by Beck. The original version is from Van Halen’s album 1984.
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.
Lily Moore – Over You
20-year-old Brixton-based singer-songwriter Lily Moore grew up listening to soul legends like Etta James, Lauryn Hill and Sam Cooke. She started her musical career busking the streets of her hometown, singing her heroes’ repertoire. Soon, she started translating their inspiration into her own songs, which are disarmingly honest, and stripped back in style.
About her new single Over You, Lily Moore says: “I think it’s almost easier sometimes when you split up from someone and you both hate each other, because at least then you know how you feel. This song was for me about all the things the person was going to have to do in order for me to hate them and to fully move on.”
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.
Inspired & The Sleep – Getting Through
Inspired & The Sleep are a Los Angeles-via-San Diego based duo, consisting of songwriter/producer Max Greenhalgh and multi-instrumentalist Bryce Outcault. They came on my radar last year, with their aptly titled single First Time. However, by then they were already making music for four years. During these years, they perfected the art of making radio-friendly dream pop. You could have guessed from the band name 😉 .
Getting Through is Inspired & The Sleep’s fourth single of 2019, and likely to become their most successful yet. It’s a well-crafted pop song, built around danceable piano chords and a strumming bassline. If you wouldn’t listen to the lyrics, you might think it’s a happy song. But in reality, Greenhalgh says, “Getting Through describes the desire/hopes to overcome emotional blocks and walls towards the ones closest to you.”
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.
Claire Laffut feat. Yseult – Nudes
Short introduction: Claire Laffut is a 23-year-old Belgian multi-talent, currently living in Paris. She writes, paints, draws and sings. Yseult (24) is a singer-songwriter and model, who was runner up in the tenth season of French TV talent show Nouvelle Star. Since then, she developed her own pop-trap hybrid, called ‘Y-trap’.
The single Nudes brings these upcoming talents together. It’s a fresh track, full of summer vibes and held together by a walking bassline. The song can be found on the mini album Molitor, named after the Paris hotel with its iconic retro swimming pool. The Nudes video was shot there, mixing vintage and modern styles. A feast for ears and eyes !
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.
Isaac Dunbar – ferrari
Isaac Dunbar is an only 16-year-old singer-songwriter and producer from Barnstable, Massachusetts. He debuted last year with the single freshman year, and put out five more singles since then. All of these now appear on his 8-track debut EP balloons don’t float here (apparently, he’s not a big fan of capital letters).
With ferrari, Dunbar releases a sixth single off his EP. A tune with distorted vocals, grungy guitars, hard-hitting beats, and quiet melodies that build into an anthemic chorus. “Ferrari is about friends in your life who spread your secrets around after your friendship ends,” Dunbar explains.
I know this is a dangerous thing to say, and I don’t want to raise too many expectations for this talented young man, but to me, he sounds like a male Billie Eilish. There, I said 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.
