Shade may be from Canada, but they were raised on a diet of Brit rock and grunge. While they don’t intend to hide that, they inject their influences with a fresh dose of 21st-century swagger.

The five-piece band just released their debut album Combat Rave. A record full of hooks, energy and ambition. It includes all of the band’s singles so far: Controller, She Told Me (both 2018), this year’s Brain Suck, Drive Me Wild and Combat Rave, plus five new tracks. One of those is Shade’s new single Morningmaker. Their best track so far, it sounds like a slightly polished version of Oasis. Meanwhile, the reverb on the guitar reminds of The Smiths’ How Soon Is Now? References they shouldn’t be ashamed of, I’d say.

They say about the song: “We’re all still trying to figure out exactly who/what the ‘Morningmaker’ is but we’ll leave it up to the audience to make up their own minds. Making coffee in the morning, Morningmaker. Catch the bus on time, Morningmaker. Getting that pay cheque early, Morningmaker. The Morningmaker is anything and all that’s just right, perhaps. The universe lining up. You can really only tell after four minutes and 13 seconds.

Let me explain what Morningmaker is: it’s the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. In that capacity, it’ll feature here prominently for a who week. Not in the shade, but in the spotlights!

In the Wildcards 2020 playlist you can find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.

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.