Browsing Tag rock
Good Health Good Wealth – Guinness
Only a week ago, I introduced you to Good Health Good Wealth via their debut single Love Hangover. Only a week later, British singer Bruce Breakey and Lithuanian guitarist/producer Simon Kuzmicas release a follow-up. And it’s equally strong and intriguing.
I can imagine it may be annoying for bands to be compared to other artists. But especially in the case of new acts, it can help to explain the public what to expect. You can trust me to only make comparisons that are really there (in my ears, at least 😉 ). Love Hangover for instance, reminded me of Hard-Fi. A sure shot, I thought, for that band’s front man Richard Archer co-wrote and produced the single. However, this new single was co-written and produced by Archer as well, but it has a totally different sound. It’s an ethereal track with moody guitars, and lyrics sung in a The Lottery Winners kind of style.
Sounds like Good Health Good Wealth are a band that’s not easy to pigeon-hole. Cheers to that!
Recommended as well:
Good Health Good Wealth – Love Hangover
Follow Good Health Good Wealth on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Penfriend – Cancel Your Hopes
Penfriend may sound like a new name in rock music, but Laura Kidd (her real name) is quite a veteran already. The Bristol-based music producer and songwriter started her music career as a bassist and vocalist for hire. In that role, she toured the world with the likes of Tricky and a-ha. From 2010 to 2019, she released four full-length solo albums and played 600 live shows under the moniker She Makes War.
Since then, she has been making music as Penfriend. Half a year ago, I highly recommended her single The Only Way Out Is Through. Her new track Cancel Your Hopes is just as great. Musically, the upbeat, empowering track is equal parts garage and pop-rock. Lyrically, despite its title, it encourages you to keep thriving even in a hopeless place. Powerful in every sense.
Recommended as well:
Penfriend – The Only Way Out Is Through
Follow Penfriend on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Ali Barter – You Get In My Way
Since the release of her second album Hello, I’m Doing My Best in 2019, things have gone pretty quiet around Ali Barter. Luckily, the Australian rock chick just announced her new EP Chocolate Cake, set for release on 30 April. She already served up its lead single Twisted Up last year, but now a second teaser track is out.
You Get In My Way is unlike anything in Barter’s discography. It contains spoken word verses, which eventually erupt into a booming chorus.
In a press release, the Melbourne singer-songwriter explains: “I wrote You Get In My Way in Nashville in 2019. I was travelling without my husband and had this feeling of freedom to do all the silly things I did when I was single.” She continued to say that she “often [has] funny conversations with my friends in long term relationships about the dumb things we would do if our partner wasn’t around. Ultimately I don’t want to do these things, but it was fun to explore the feeling of rebelling from the security of a long term relationship.”
Recommended as well:
January
Backseat
Girlie Bits
Follow Ali Barter on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Louis & The Shakes – How Badly Do You Want It?
Louis Antoniou (lead vocals), Jamie Lawson (lead guitar), Manny O’Donnell (drum) and Will Finnerty (bass) are Louis & The Shakes. They may be a London four-piece, but their music sounds as American as can be. In their infectious, hard-hitting songs they combine blues, Americana, and psychedelic indie-rock into a distinctive cocktail.
Up-tempo new single How Badly Do You Want It? is no exception to the description above. In other words: it’s one’s for fans of Queens Of The Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys and The Black Keys. It even adds a Long Train Runnin’ kind of funky guitar to the mix.
Front man Antoniou says of the track: “I’ve always had a bluesy streak and I think you can hear that in this tune particularly – the simplicity of the claps and the ‘tribal’ backing vocals in the verses. (…) Lyrically it’s all about keeping going, keep believing and never giving up. Instead of resting on our laurels [after COVID-19 came] we thought let’s get in the studio and record this album.”
How Badly Do You Want It? is the first single from the band’s upcoming same-titled debut long-player.
Follow Louis & The Shakes on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Lucy Daydream – Fast Forward
Lucy Daydream are Paige Duché and Ross Ryan from Denver, Colorado. They met in the Spring of 2017 when Duché covered one of Ryan’s original works on YouTube. After reconnecting almost a year later, they started writing songs together.
While crafting their tunes, they fully embrace the independent/DIY ethic. The duo do everything themselves, from writing, producing, mixing and releasing the music to filming and editing the music videos. That way, they never have to make compromises to their exciting indie-pop songs.
Ever since their 2019 debut album Awake And Dreaming, they’ve been quite prolific. Earlier this year, they put out the EP Infinite Quest For The Rainbow Butthole, which was followed by four brand-new singles. These are now compiled on their second EP of the year: Enter The Lucy-Verse.
Stand-out track Fast Forward is the pair’s new single. It opens with a driving bassline that remains a prominent factor throughout the song. The catchy chorus is another strength of the song, just like the guitar solo that rips the track apart before the 2-minute mark. And less than 3 minutes after the opening bars, it’s all over.
Follow Lucy Daydream on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Wildcard (week 9):
Kalie Shorr – Amy
Kalie Shorr’s career is off to a fabulous start. She was named ‘CMT Next Woman Of Country’ and a ‘Top 10 Country Artist To Watch In 2018’. A year later, her debut album Open Book even became the #7 best album of 2019 according to The New York Times.
The Portland, Maine singer-songwriter just started the next chapter of her success story. Amy is her first all-new track of 2021. Gone are the country roots. Instead, she embraces a grungy sound. But that only emerged secondarily. Initially, Kalie Shorr posted a 30 second video of the song played on an acoustic guitar on TikTok. It was watched over 2 million times, and one of its viewers was renowned producer Butch Walker (Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift, Green Day). He offered to produce the final version, which ended up a rock song in the best ‘90s tradition. To me, it sounds like a cross between Cornershop’s Brimful Of Asha and Sinéad O’Connor’s Mandinka (the latter being from 1987, obviously, but you get the point).
Amy is an honest and brutal song. Based on feelings of both hurt and anger, it contains great one liners like ‘He wasn’t over me when you were under him’. It’s the first track released from Shorr’s forthcoming EP, set for release later this year.
This week, Kalie Shorr’s Amy is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
Follow Kalie Shorr on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2021 playlist you’ll 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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Werner’s Weekly (week 9)
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:
- MBG – This Time (Wildcard this week)
- Drew Sycamore – 45 Fahrenheit Girl (Wildcard last week)
- Fear Of Tigers – Tiger Blood
- Grrrl Gang – Honey, Baby
- Isaac Dunbar – Fan Behavior
- Noémie Wolfs – Lonely Boy’s Paradise
- Upsahl – Stop!
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: Del Amitri, Green Day, Maxïmo Park, The Offspring, and 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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
renforshort – Virtual Reality
At just 18, Lauren Isenberg has already generated significant international industry buzz. She’s signed to a major label and has a well-received EP (Teenage Angst) under her belt. Early in her career, the Toronto singer-songwriter used a stage name as short as Ren. Recently however, she extended her moniker to renforshort. In my book, that’s humour with a capital H. But her lyrics are far more serious.
Take her new single Virtual Reality, for instance. That was inspired by the fact that most individuals – ren included, are addicted to their phones. It’s a much-needed wake up call, not only for people her age. A catchy tune with gritty production, it’s a rock-infused alternative pop song. Great taster for her forthcoming second EP!
Recommended as well:
Ren – I Drive Me Mad
Ren – New Way
Follow renforshort on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Baby Queen – These Drugs
In recent years, more and more (mostly young) artists open up about their pains, depressions, and insecurities. This can make for uncomfortable listening, but often provides the artist with an escape from their past. And judging from the number of streams these songs pick up, they certainly connect with a large audience. Apparently, this is a problem that more people deal with than one would hope for. Obviously, a pandemic with all the restrictions that come with it doesn’t help…
One of those artists that don’t wear their heart on their sleeve, is Bella Latham, a.k.a. Baby Queen. Her new single These Drugs deals with refusing to acknowledge or pay attention to mental health issues, which can ultimately lead to a self-destructive cycle. This subject matter comes from personal experience, the singer explains.
“I wrote this song when I was in a really bad place which was characterized mostly by this idea that I wasn’t a good person and didn’t deserve good things. (…) I knew I was taking a risk when I decided to be so uncomfortably honest in these lyrics. But I also knew I had to share this story with people, because we all have a monkey on our back and self-destruction is a stranger to nobody. I really want people to know that there is a better life waiting for them should they choose it.”
Therefore, These Drugs is not a song about self-pity, but an ode to self-reflection and eventual self-realization.
Recommended as well:
Baby Queen – Raw Thoughts
Follow Baby Queen on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Coach Party – Everybody Hates Me
Coach Party used the free time COVID-19 forced upon them very well. They released no less than ten songs throughout 2020. Six of those were collected on their debut EP Party Food. 20 April, the Isle of Wight four-piece release their sophomore EP After Party. It’ll include previously released singles Can’t Talk, Won’t and Really OK On My Own, as well as their first track of the new year: Everybody Hates Me. A raw, energetic tune – both lyrically and musically – with great guitar riffs.
Commenting on the track, singer Jess Eastwood says: “Everybody Hates Me isn’t a metaphor for anything. It’s literally about those times when you convince yourself that everyone, including your best friends, don’t actually like you, and your self-confidence is so low that you don’t even blame them. Disguise that sentiment in an up-beat singalong, and there you have the third single from our new record.”
Follow Coach Party on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
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. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
