8 months 1 week ago
For this second instalment of the Netflix TV series ‘Queer Eye’, Australia-born and Los Angeles-based pop star Betty Who revamped the original theme song. Her version clocks in at 1’44. It doesn’t happen often I wished a song lasted double its time. bit.ly/CBMbettywho
8 months 1 week ago
One of the most important success stories in this week's European Border Breakers Charts comes from Albin Lee Meldau (pictured). Not only is his song Try one of the 8 first-timers, he also sees 2 of his tracks re-enter the chart.
For the full Top 100, check http://bit.ly/CBMebbc
If you like Northern Soul (think The Style Council), then stop what you were doing and check this: Magnus Carlson, who is one of Sweden’s most successful artists, has a brand-new single out. He co-wrote Wait For Love To Grow with members of his band Weeping Willows, who also perform on the track.
‘Weeping Willows?’, I hear you think. You may know them from Broken Promise Land, which received some airplay in 1999, but never really scored big time. Carlson, already the singer of the band at that time, also sang with fellow Swedish act West End Girls on a cover of the Pet Shop Boys’ What Have I Done To Deserve This? in 2008. He has seven solo albums to his name as well, most of them in Swedish.
This year, Carlson will release his first ever full-length solo album in the UK. It was largely recorded and produced at Paul Weller’s Black Barn studio in Surrey (do you feel the Style Council connection?). Wait For Love To Grow is the album’s first single.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
pop | soulNice additions this week to the Carte Blanche Music playlist, containing the best new music released in 2018 so far. How about Mama’s Gun, (former?) Everything But The Girls singer Tracey Thorn, Two Door Cinema Club, Kodaline, and Roxette’s Per Gessle & Helena Josefsson, who provide the official song for the World Table Tennis Championship 2018?
But like each Monday morning, last week’s top songs are ordered alphabetically in Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters:
20 minutes is all you need to update yourself with the best new music. Simply listen through the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar and click the links above for more information about each track. Enjoy!
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
electronic | melancholic | polka | pop | rock | soulLast week, a great variety of artists came up with new tracks. Among them: Duke Dumont (feat. Ebenezer), The Fratellis, Pearl Jam, Sigrid, The Decemberists, and Thievery Corporation feat. Loulou Ghelichkhani. All of these – and many more – can be found in my 2018 container playlist Carte Blanche Music on Spotify.
The best of the best, however, are in Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. It includes the latest two Wildcards, and this week’s top tracks (in alphabetical order):
My original recommendations are behind the links above and you can listen to all of the songs through the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
electronic | funk | pop | rock | soulBorn in Sydney and now based in London, Joel Sarakula is a modern-day soul singer. His impeccable taste (Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott Heron, Marvin Gaye) shines through in his own music. ‘Shines through’ in the most literal sense: it brings out the sun!
In Trouble is the first single off Sarakula’s upcoming album Love Club (20 April). He co-wrote the song with Michele Stodart of The Magic Numbers. It touched subjects like strikes, terrorism and despotism, that were just as present in his beloved 70s as in our current age.
Sarakula says about it: “In Trouble was my attempt at doing an updated politically conscious song for these dark times. But don’t worry it’s still hopeful and positive, it’s a pop song after all!”
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
pop | soulLess than three years ago, Calum Scott auditioned for the ninth series of Britain’s Got Talent. He performed a cover of Robyn’s Dancing On My Own, that became a pan-European hit a year later.
Last week, the singer released his debut album Only Human. In my opinion, Give Me Something, which could have been a John Newman track, would make an excellent single!
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
pop | soul
In June last year, I wrote about Bicycle by BC Unidos (feat. Shungudzo). A week later, I made it Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, and it subsequently appeared among Your Favourites for four months in a row, ending 7th in the year-end chart. After this runaway success, the duo, consisting of Swedish hit composers Patrik Berger and Markus Krunegård, collaborated with the likes of Santigold, Carly Rae Jepsen and Charli XCX on their Bicycle EP.
Apparently, they had more great names in their Rolodex: their new single Take It Easy features US Girls, who appeared on this blog multiple times, and fellow-Swede Ledinsky, whose DonaldTrumpMakesMeWannaSmokeCrack was something of a cult hit in 2016.
The track somehow reminds me of Long John Baldry’s version of (Walk Me Out In The) Morning Dew (but I’ve got a vivid imagination). Anyway, it’s a modern soul song that deserves to be embraced by many radio stations, but most importantly: by you!
For starters, Take It Easy by BC Unidos (feat. US Girls & Ledinsky) is embraced by Carte Blanche Music as this week’s Wildcard (all of which you can find in the Wildcards 2018 playlist). As a result, the track appears prominently on top of this blog until next Wildcard Wednesday!
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
electronic | pop | soulBorn to a Seychellois mother and an American father (who was one of The Four Tops), Gizelle Smith was raised in Manchester, UK. Soulful music was part of her upbringing from the start.
After becoming a composer in theatrical productions, a trumpet player in several big bands and a singing tutor, she soon focused on singing herself.
30 March, her second album Ruthless Day sees the light. Based on the first singles Sweet Memories and Hero (feat. Eric Boss), we can expect a modern sounding soul/funk album. Her new single Hey Romeo is my favourite of the three!
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
funk | pop | soulWow, an enormous amount of new music has been unleashed last week! For my Carte Blanche Music playlist, featuring only the best releases of 2018 so far, I hand-picked new songs by Cats On Trees, Gin Wigmore, Manic Street Preachers, and Sea Girls, among others.
But only the cream of the crop makes it onto Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. You can listen to the tracks via the player in the sidebar, and learn more about them by following the links below:
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
electronic | funk | indie | orchestral | pop | rhythm & blues | rock | soul | surfTheo Lawrence, still only in his early twenties, is a singer-songwriter from Paris, and a self-taught guitar and piano player. But when surrounded by his band The Hearts (Thibault Lecocq – drums, Nevil Bernard – keyboards, Louis Marin Renaud – guitar, and Olivier Viscat – bass), he is committed to the microphone.
They make soulful rock with touches of rhythm & blues and surf, positioning themselves between Charles Bradley, Tony Joe White and even Johnny Cash. Since 2016’s debut EP Sticky Icky, Never Let It Go is their third piece of new music. A pure, surprisingly adult song, that gets under your skin.
This week, Theo Lawrence & The Hearts release their first full album Homemade Lemonade in France. The rest of us will have to wait until 27 April…
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
rhythm & blues | rock | soul | surfIn terms of quantity, it was a huge week for new music. But it wasn’t a particularly huge week for great new music.
Still, artists like Albert Hammond Jr., Blossoms, Digitalism, Nemesea, Simple Minds, and Turin Brakes put out recommendable new songs, all of which – and more – you can find in my ‘best of 2018’ playlist Carte Blanche Music.
But besides the latest two Wildcards, only four tracks made it onto this Monday’s edition of Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. You’ll find them, alphabetically ordered as always, below:
Click on the links for the full story in all its glory, while listening to the six of them through the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar. 19 minutes well-spent! ?
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
dance | electronic | funk | indie | pop | punk | rock | soul
