Browsing Tag rock
Self Talk – Food Court
Melbourne indie-rock outfit Self Talk came to the scene in 2015 with their single Fist Fight. Two years and two EP’s later, the band went on a hiatus. During those years, several band members played with fellow Aussie rock outfit Ceres. Now however, everything returned to the ‘old normal’ (for a change). Self Talk are back with a punchy new tune, and it’s good to have them back!
Food Court is as delicious as it sounds. A hugely infectious track, produced by Violent Soho guitarist James Tidswell. It discusses ‘the weight of blame we can carry before realizing that it might be up to us to look inward to fix something’.
Singer Stacey Cicivelli adds: “It was one of those songs where the chorus came first and it felt like something I needed to get out of me. I still feel that every time I sing it. We wrote it and recorded the demo at least a year before we recorded it properly so it’s been a long time coming and is such a relief to finally have it finished. Working with James Tidswell as producer helped us capture exactly what we were trying to create. It feels like the perfect representation of a Self Talk song, with its big chorus and hooks and the way it hits hard but still retains its pop elements.”
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.
Rhea – Under My Skin
Clap your hands and stamp your feet, Rhea is in town. Under My Skin is the second single off their EP Lust For Life Pt. II (which, unsurprisingly, follows Pt. I). They don’t exactly leave us guessing for their influences. After its opening handclaps, the track starts with a Marilyn Manson-like riff, while the acoustic-leaning pre-chorus echoes Queen. As a whole, the band erects an impressive wall of glamrock guitars, which combines the best elements of Royal Blood and Muse. Although it comes to a close within three minutes, it’s a track with plenty variation, putting the listener on the wrong track more than once.
Rhea is a Belgian band with international ambition and potential, partly thanks to producer Alex Newport (Bloc Party, Frank Turner). Their EP’s, recorded in studios across Los Angeles, Brighton and Belgium, are preludes to their upcoming debut album.
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.
Tia Gostelow – Psycho
20-year-old Aussie singer-songwriter Tia Gostelow has been making music for over 10 years. Around the age of 12, she started playing in pubs and bars every weekend doing covers. At 16, she recorded her first single State Of Art, which was picked up by alternative radio station Triple J. She’s have been recording her own music and touring ever since.
Like her recent single Rush, her latest offering Psycho shows a new musical direction. It’s slick indie pop at its best, with driving basslines, a rocky edge and an overall ‘80s synth-pop vibe. Building to a pulsing crescendo, it’s a festival-ready alt-pop banger. The catchy tune has a serious message however. It narrates frustration with ‘gaslighting’ in relationships. Feeling she has been painted as the villain, Gostelow becomes aware of the emotional abuse and won’t take it anymore.
Both Rush and Psycho are set to appear on Tia Gostelow’s sophomore record, which will arrive later this year.
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 23):
Certain Animals – TV
Thijs van Leeuwen (vocals, guitars), Niels-Jan van Dijk (bass, vocals) and Kees Braam (drums, vocals) are Certain Animals. The trio, fans of The Beatles, Beach Boys, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash and ELO, are real DIY enthusiasts. While busy touring, they managed to build their own recording studio in Rotterdam. That’s where they write, produce and mix all of their songs themselves. Watch out for their debut album Songs To Make You Move, out on 25 September.
Until then, the band release a single a month. TV is the sixth single to be released ahead of the long-player. It opens with a phaser-turned drum fill, followed by a fuzzy double guitar harmony. The rhythm section consists of congas, bongos and a grunting bass. A melodic rock track filled with vocal harmonies, that wouldn’t have sounded out of place in the ‘70s. Apart from the influences mentioned above, Joe Jackson, Focus and Queen shine through in it as well.
This week, TV by Certain Animals is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
In the Wildcards 2020 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.
Werner’s Weekly (week 23)
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:
- Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (Wildcard this week)
- Gizmo Varillas – Born Again (Wildcard last week)
- Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið – Where We Wanna Be
- Dagny – Coulda Woulda Shoulda
- Liza Anne – Bummer Days
- On Video – Bête Noire
- Sophie Hunger – Everything Is Good
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 Howl & The Hum, Indochine, Nek, 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.
Sweater Curse – Close
First things first. ‘Sweater curse’ is a term used by knitters. It describes the superstition that if a knitter gives a hand-knit sweater to a significant other, it will lead to the recipient breaking up with the knitter. But, more in line with this blog, Sweater Curse is also a band from Brisbane, Australia. It consists of guitarist Chris Langenberg, lead singer/bassist Monica Sottile and drummer Rei Bingham.
Last year, after a string of singles, the trio released their debut EP See You. Close is Sweater Curse’s first release since that EP. A great tune with a pounding bass and grungy guitar parts. A bit like certain Smashing Pumpkins songs. The vocal melodies on the other hand have a bubble-gum pop sensibility, culminating in anthemic choruses. These parts work together very well, creating a cool, bouncy rock song.
Langenberg says of the lyrical themes of song: “It talks of the struggles within a relationship (friendship, general or romantic) and at times it explores themes and emotions of self-deprecating.”
Close is taken from an as-of-yet untitled EP, due out later this year. The track was produced by Ball Park Music’s Sam Cromack, and co-written by Carte Blanche Music favourite Alex Lahey. Lahey herself released the surprise EP Between The Kitchen And The Living Room this week. It contains stripped down versions of five of her songs, each recorded in different rooms of her house.
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.
The Unlikely Candidates – High Low
How many artists can say they kept Billie Eilish from the #1 spot? The Unlikely Candidates can. Their single Novocaine reached the summit of the US Alternative Radio Chart, leaving #2 for Eilish.
New single High Low was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic in TUC singer Kyle Morris’ closet. It’s about the loneliness of returning home from touring and finding that friends have moved on with their lives. “Like you’re on top of the world with your success, but you’re kind of pining for the days when you had more people around. It’s that old story all about growing up a little bit”, Morris says about the track.
High Low is another radio-friendly rock song, whose catchy call-and-response chorus is sure to do great live as well.
Recommended as well:
The Unlikely Candidates – World In My Pocket
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.
Vistas – Everything Changes In The End
These must be extra-frustrating times for Scotland based Vistas. They just released their debut album, full of perfect indie summer anthems, but have nowhere to play them.
Vocalist Prentice Robertson, guitarist Dylan Rush and bassist Jamie Law formed the band at school and developed a tight bond while fawning over records from The Strokes, Two Door Cinema Club and more. They’ve made their name by gigging tirelessly across the UK. Sold-out tours and support slots alongside the likes of The Wombats, Circa Waves and The Kooks. Their live shows generated plenty of word of mouth and, ultimately, a loyal fan base. The singles the band released since 2016 racked up over 40 million plays on Spotify alone.
Finally, they released their debut album Everything Changes In The End. The title track is the trio’s new single. They have this to say about it: “It’s just about being there for your friends and realising that stuff might not be great at the moment, but hopefully in time will work itself out. Essentially it’s the message that we wanted to put throughout the whole record, so that’s why it’s the opening and title-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.
Bloxx – Thinking About Yourself
Singer-songwriter Fee Booth, Paul Rau (bass) and Taz Sidhu (lead guitar) – a.k.a. Bloxx – aren’t wasting any time. Only two weeks after their Carte Blanche Music Wildcard Lie Out Loud, they release its follow-up. Thinking About Yourself is a slower-paced song, without losing any of the energy the British band are known for.
Speaking about the new single, Booth commented: “Thinking About Yourself is a bit of a fuck you song for everyone who’s ever really wound you up, and reminding them the world isn’t all about them.”
It’s the fourth single to be released ahead of their debut album Lie Out Loud, set for release on 14 August.
Recommended as well:
Bloxx – Lie Out Loud
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 22):
Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda
Long after Phil Collins, Don Henley, Sheila E. and several others, singing drummers are back again. Georgia is my favourite of the current bunch, but I just discovered Håkan Hellström as well. He recorded several albums as a drummer and bass player with acts like Broder Daniel and Honey Is Cool, before completely focusing on his solo career. He is very successful in his homeland Sweden. All but one of his ten albums so far reached #1.
Last week Hellström released his new album Rampljus Vol. 1, another chart topper. Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda, his new single, shot straight into the Swedish Top 10. I don’t know if it’s meant to be, but the track sounds like a pop quiz. How many historical references do you spot?
The song starts with a version of the ‘ging, gi-gi-gi-gi-ging’ part in Marlena Shaw’s Woman Of The Ghetto (the live version of which was famously sampled in Blue Boy’s Remember Me). The percussion must have been inspired by The Rolling Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil, Baba O’Riley by The Who is incorporated and Bruce Springsteen’s Jungleland springs to mind as well. With so many great influences, what could possibly go wrong? Well, nothing. Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda is both classic and timeless. Well done by Håkan Hellström and (Caesars and Teddybears frontman) Joakim Ahlund, who co-wrote and produced the song.
An edited version with English lyrics could very well become a hit outside of Sweden as well. But why wait? This week, Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda by Håkan Hellström will feature prominently at the top of the Carte Blanche Music blog as our new Wildcard!
In the Wildcards 2020 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.
