I like my songs up-tempo here at Carte Blanche Music headquarters. Not often do I need to apply the tag ‘melancholic’ to tracks I recommend. But every now and then, a slower tune stands out. This is one of those…

Varley are a Berlin-based indie-pop trio, centred around the mesmerising vocals of Dublin-native Claire-Ann Varley. Her band mates, multi-instrumentalists Joschka Bender and Matthias Heising, are Germans. They cite artists like Bon Iver, Fleetwood Mac, The Cardigans and Phoebe Bridgers as their main influences. Put these in the Varley blender and a London Grammar-like sound comes out. Honest and vulnerable, with fragile vocals embedded in a soft instrumental backdrop.

The trio says about their new single: “We wrote One Two Three about the unachievable beauty standard we are surrounded by in today’s society, and how people’s lives online can seem so perfect, and how it becomes harder not to compare yourself or your life to everything you see online. It talks about the feeling of being stuck in a big machine that’s trying to change us, but also has the realization that if we apologize for being ourselves then we will be lost forever.”

I’m looking forward to the band’s debut album Smalltalk And DMCs, due out on 17 September!

Follow Varley on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify

For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.

Werner Schlosser

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.