Only 21 years of age, Alfie Templeman can already be considered a Carte Blanche Music veteran. The English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer came on my radar five years ago. In the meantime, he clocked up 300 million global streams, and is currently working on his sophomore long-player.

“Musically, Eyes was the first song I wrote for the album”, Alfie explains. “I knew I wanted to make big, weird pop songs. At the time I was rinsing Prince and Talking Heads a lot, lots of crazy staccato synth textures and nutty bass lines.”

Apart from these two influences, there are also traces of Scissor Sisters, Beck and even Peter Gabriel to be heard in the funky track. Near the end, it even contains the famous Sledgehammer panflute sound. All in all, Alfie embraces a new big synth pop vibe in this groovy song. A big leap forward!

Conceived to combat the relentlessness of adrenaline that turned sour in monotonous hotel rooms post-gig, writing the tune served as a healing process for the artist.

Now please open your ears, ‘cause Eyes Wide Shut by Alfie Templeman is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. This implies that it will be prominently displayed at the top of the blog for an entire week.

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In the Wildcards 2024 playlist you’ll 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.