Yukon Blonde hasn’t been Yukon Blonde all the time. In 2005, they started as Alphababy. After two EP under that moniker, they changed their name to Yukon Blonde in 2009. The band is Canadian five-piece, who specialize in jangly indie pop/rock. However, their latest four singles, all of which will probably be featured on their next album Critical Hit (due for 22 June), have a more poppy sound. The reason is clear: the album was produced by Tony Hoffer (who worked with Air, Beck, The Kooks and zillions more).

Opening with pulsating synths, Yukon Blonde’s latest single Too Close To Love ticks all the right boxes, as far as I’m concerned. It even echoes Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, which can’t be wrong. The song, inspired by Milan Kundera’s ‘The Unbearable Lightness Of Being’, is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. This means the song has the most prominent place on this blog for a full seven days. That should give you more than enough time to fall in love with it, like I did.

You can find all Wildcards of the year so far in this playlist.

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.