We’re back for the final ESCBubble new music roundup of 2018 and we’re cramming in two weeks of new releases before we take our well earned Christmas break. As always we’ve scoured the globe for new music from former Eurovision artists and from those who didn’t quite get past their National selections. We hope you’ve enjoyed the 322 songs we’ve brought to you in this column since we started in May and hope you agree this is THE place to get your Eurovision new music!
Alma – T’es pas un homme
Your French 2017 Eurovision artist is back and there’s been big changes for Alma. Following her 12th place finish at ESC with ‘Requiem’, she released her one and only album with Warner Music tittled ‘Ma peau aime’. Unfortunately the album proved to be relatively unsuccessful and Alma has now parted ways with the record label. Alma however is using this creative freedom to explore new territory and her single ‘T’es pas un homme’ (Eng: ‘You Are Not A Man’) is a lyrically daring and challenging song with some very interesting lyrics:
I would like you to break your teeth
You’re crushing yourself on the asphalt
Let everyone know what you really are
Show us what you really are
People would spit on you
Alfred Garcia – De La Tierra Hasta Marte
We’ve waited a while for the return of the Spanish 2018 Eurovision duo, and first out of the blocks is Alfred Garcia. His next single post ‘Tu Cancion’ comes from his album ‘1016’ which has also just been released. ‘De La Tierra Hasta Marte’ (Eng: ‘From The Earth To Mars’), is just what you’d expect from Alfred in his typical avant-garde style, he isn’t trying to please the masses and continues to succeed by doing his own thing:
Amaia – Un Nuevo Lugar
Amaia, the 2018 Operacion Triunfo winner finally releases her highly anticipated first single, and like Alfred this is her first since ‘Tu Cancion’. Amaia has had an interesting few weeks, including ending her relationship with Alfred and also recording a duet with him for his latest album. Her latest song is titled ‘Un Nuevo Lugar’ (Eng: ‘A New Place’) which most strikingly is only 1 minute 39 seconds in length. Amaia said this about the song:
‘A new place’ is not a single, it is like the springboard to the new. I say goodbye to what I have experienced and it is another new stage.
Helena Paparizou – It Is Christmas/Hristougena Xana
Eurovision veteran Helena is back and with her first ever Christmas release. Helena of course won ESC for Greece in 2005 with ‘My Number One’ and then attempted again to make the contest in 2014 in Sweden with ‘Survivor’ finishing 4th at Melodifestivalen. Brought to you in both English and Greek languages, it’s a full on bells driven fun song and we’re bringing you both versions!
Ana Guerra – Bajito
Ana Guerra = another reggaeton bop! The fomer Operacion Triunfo stars are really bringing the new music at the moment and Ana caps off a great year following the phenomenal success of ‘Lo Malo’ with Aitana (3rd in the OT Eurovision Gala) and ‘Ni La Hora’ with Juan Magan. Fresh from an appearance showcasing this on Operacion Triunfo last week, here is ‘Bajito’ (Eng: ‘Short’):
Anna Rossinelli – Jewellery
We’ve featured Anna Rossinelli a lot lately and showcased her recent singles ‘Hold Your Head Up’ and ‘Union’. The 2011 Swiss Eurovision finalist is gearing up for the release of her new album ‘White Garden’ on 18th January 2019, and gives us another single showing off the variety and tenacity of her voice. Here’s ‘Jewellery’:
Sertab Erener – Belki De Dönerim
Your Turkish 2004 winner is back and sounding very different from how you previously remember her! For ‘Belki De Dönerim’ (Eng: ‘Maybe I Will Return’) Sertab has teamed up with another ESC alumni, Can Bonomo (7th, Turkey, 2012) who is on writing duties here. Very ethnic sounding, it’s a downtempo, moody affair that is a million miles away from ‘Everyway That I Can’:
Demy – Ela
This uptempo foot tapper sees Demy singing the title song from director Nikos Zapatin’s new movie ‘Περιμένοντας τη Νονά‘. Released on the legendary Greek music label Panik Records, the video sees the incredibly successful 2017 Greek Eurovision finalist feature alongside clips from the film itself and is directed by Yiannis Michelopoulos. Check out ‘Ela’ (Eng ‘Come On’) below:
Bryan Rice & Camille Jones – Glow
Bryan Rice is a former two Danish Melodi Grand Prix contestant, finishing second in 2010 with ‘Breathing’ and was an unplaced finalist in 2014 with ‘I Choose U’. Here he teams up with well known Danish singer Camille Jones, who is probably best know for her 2007 hit ‘The Creeps’ which was remixed by Fedde Le Grand. This hook up is called ‘Glow’:
Daði Freyr – Allir Daga Eru Jólin Með Þér
Daði finished second in the 2017 Icelandic selection, Songvakeppnin, with his electro ballad ‘Is This Love’, losing out to ‘Paper’ by Svala. He caused controversy earlier in the year by ruling himself out of this year’s Songvakeppnin immediately after Israel’s win, citing the treatment of Palestine by the Israeli government as a reason to boycott the 2019 contest. Donning a Santa hat on the cover, he’s released a Christmas single titled ‘Allir Daga Eru Jólin Með Þér’ (Eng: ‘All Days Are Christmas With You’):
Lidia Isac – Aproape
Lidia represented Moldova in 2016 with her entry ‘Falling Stars’ and was unfortunately the last non qualifier for the country in the Semi Finals, finishing 17th in Semi Final 1 with 33 points. Since Eurovision she’s taken part as a contestant on the French version of The Voice (“The Voice: la plus belle voix‘) where she passed the Blind Auditions and joined coach Florent Pagny:
Although she eventually lost out in the Battle Round, she is back recording music and even found time to get married in September! Showing a sensitive side to her music, here is ‘Aproape’ (Eng: ‘Close’):
Michael Schulte – The Love You Left Behind
Michael provided Germany’s best finish since 2010 this year with his touching ballad ‘You Let Me Walk Alone’ finishing in a very respectable 4th place with 340 points. Since the Contest he’s both become a father and released a further single ‘Never Let You Down’ which we brought to you recently. His latest release is called ‘The Love You Left Behind’.
On his Instagram Michael reveals that the song was on the shortlist for being his Eurovision entry but eventually it didn’t get selected. He wanted to share it with his fans however:
Marta Gałuszewska – Reasons
Marta was the winner of The Voice of Poland in late 2017 and went straight from that success to the Polish National Final “Krajowe Eliminacje” where she finished 5th. As she builds up to her debut album, a new single called ‘Reasons’ has been released. It is much more chilled than her usual sound and is a collaboration with the British producer Sarah Manovski and a close friend, producer and member of her band, Jan Bielecki:
ISA – After You
Isa Tengblad, better known as ISA, is a two time Melodifestivalen entrant, finishing 7th in 2015 and making the Andra Chansen round in 2016. We also already know that’s she’s a writer on one of the 2019 entrants – ‘I Do Me’ by Malou Prytz. The 20 year old is still a very fresh face to the Swedish music scene and shows a strong variety in the music she makes. Speaking about new single ‘After You’ she says:
‘After You’ moves me so insanely much. It’s about longing for something or someone. And it makes me think about how my dreams give me the strength to never give up on my music. My artistry is such a huge part of who I am as a person, so it feels very special to dedicate a song to that.
Kaliopi – Presuda/Hadje da pjevamo
We’d only been away for a week and two time F.Y.R. Macedonian artist Kaliopi has released not one but two new singles! Emotional ballad ‘Presuda’ (Eng: ‘Judgment’) was initially released as a video on YouTube at the beginning of November but has now made it on to streaming platforms.
‘Hadje da pjevamo’ (Eng: ‘Come On, Let’s Sing’) is a song Kaliopi wanted to write specifically about this time of year and had this to say:
Instead of congratulations, I decided to give the song ‘Come On, Let’s Sing’, which celebrates love, pleasure and happiness of life. I devote it to known and unknown people, with the desire to turn primarily to oneself, and then to and around oneself, to the true values and to everything that makes us truly happy.
And finally…..
We’d like to wish all of our dedicated readers of the Weekly New Music roundup best wishes for the Christmas period and we hope you have a Happy New Year and an excellent National Final season.
Speaking of National Finals, our playlist showcasing all of the songs released to date is now up to a whopping 42 songs – and contains releases from Australia, Estonia, France, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania! You can follow it below:
All of the songs featured can also be found in our December ESCBubble New Music playlist, either from the link below or on our home page. Don’t forget to subscribe!
We’ll see you again in the week commencing 7th January 2019! Don’t forget to let us know your favourite release of the month on our social media channels.
