Traumship cue the waterworks, Jonas offers a pick-me-up, Dekker keeps it clean, Filled To The Brim play some grace notes, Tastycool live it up, Tchami heads to Buenos Aires and more in today’s submissions from Groover, a platform that connects artists with critics like me for a small fee. You can find my latest Tinnitist Groover playlist on Spotify, at the bottom of this page and at the lower right of every page on this site. If you want to be in an upcoming playlist, click on the widget at right (just below the playlist) or go HERE. But first, check out today’s fine finds:
Traumship | Crying Boy
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electronic Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Traumship is an electronic pop band blending various genres whose intriguing music may be defined as “traum pop”: dancing, powerful, dreamlike and dark. Based in Paris and tied to Berlin, the band is influenced by Krautrock, synth-pop and the beats of today’s clubs. Traumship’s sound is a human voice driven by energetic, yet mechanical rhythms and deep and intense soundscapes. Their lyrics explore gloomy reflections of our soul, be it through dreams or nightmares. Traumship is a vessel navigating the unknown waters of our psyche, embarking you on a one-way voyage without clear destination. This first single sets out the band’s musical world. Crying Boy depicts the confusion of a man who is no longer holding back his tears while facing an overwhelming encounter. In a sequence of excruciating, Lynchian images, at the edge of dreams and lunacy, of memories and the now, he is about to let her in, hoping for abundant light but risking to lose it all.”
Jonas | Pick Me Up
HOME BASE: England / Denmark.
GENRE: Neo-Soul.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Jonas has been hailed as the Godfather of Scandinavian Soul by international media. In 2016 he was awarded Artist of the Year and Best Video at the Scandinavian Soul Music Awards in Stockholm. For more than 20 years Jonas has been making a name for himself in soul music, released tons of music and toured all over the world. Having crossed paths over the years with some of the biggest names in neo-soul, like Omar, John Legend, Joss Stone, Lynden David Hall and Bilal, Jonas has so far ticked most of the boxes on his wishlist. Since 2004, Jonas has spent a lot of time in London, and lived there for some years, as he married a British-Wes Indian Londoner, and established a family there. Here he also formed a musical partnership with multi-instrumentalist and producer The Scratch Professer, who is the brother of U.K. soul legend Omar. The two had an instant magical connection, and a few of the songs they penned together, ended up on Jonas’ second album W.A.I.T.T. from 2009. A handful of those songs, which have been hiding in the vault for many years, are just now coming up to the surface. The four songs on 4ward Fast To Future all have the unique flavour of the special sound that The Scratch Professer and Jonas have created together over the years. Even though the whole EP is recorded, produced, mixed and mastered in only four weeks, in April 2020 — under Corona lockdown in Jonas’ family apartment in Copenhagen — it is clearly a return to the original neo-soul sound of his early career.”
Dekker | Hands Clean
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
Genre: Folk-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Known as the American half of the 14-year-old Anglo-American indie-folk duo Rue Royale, Brookln Dekker is also now a solo artist under the surname-moniker Dekker. Brookln has been the principle songwriter for the band over the years but writing on behalf of the duo, from a collective-perspective. Dekker now sees Brookln writing from a hopeful and more personal perspective. He’s currently releasing his album Slow Reveal by slowly revealing it one song at a time. Hands Clean is a track that was written and recorded during lockdown.”
Filled To The Brim | Fall From Grace
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Filled to the Brim consists of five creative and talented teens based in upstate New York. They are a great group with a passion for music and a knack for writing and performing fun and upbeat songs (which is what the world needs more of these days!!). Fall from Grace is a fun, “old-fashioned yet feels new” rock jam with lots of energy and verve. Filled to the Brim are shooting for the stars with sophisticated feel-good songs way beyond their years.”
Tastycool | Luved (Live Session)
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electronic Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “House-funk, nu-disco and indie dance music by Victor Barougier & Tom Meyronnin. Something pretty much tasty and cool ! Here is a live session from our last EP, filmed in our room during confinement. We sing and play several instruments that we record with Ableton in order to build our songs as we go along.”
Tchami | Buenos Aires
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electronic.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Paris-born DJ and producer Tchami has unveiled his second single release of 2020, Buenos Aires. Dance floor-focused, Buenos Aires is an irresistible slice of fresh, carefree filter house strung together by an infectious looped vocal sample. It will feature on Tchami’s debut album Year Zero, out later this year. Coining the term future house, and widely recognised as its creator, the French producer has toured with Skrillex, Diplo and DJ Snake whilst collaborating with the likes of Martin Garrix, Jack Ü and AC Slater. As a member of the DJ quartet Pardon My French and founder of his own label Confession, his expertise and breadth as a producer and songwriter remain unrivaled.”
DG Solaris | Spirit Glow
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “DG Solaris is the new band from Danny Green, leader of cult indie band Laish, and features his partner, LG. Their debut album Spirit Glow (out June 19) was written during a trip in Peru and recorded at Bella Union Studios. Expect shimmering ’70s synth-led psychedelic folk-pop. FFO Vampire Weekend, Here We Go Magic, Beach House. Spirit Glow is a beautifully simple folk-pop ballad for a new lover. Featuring heartfelt lyrics and lush production, the song explores the serenity of a domestic scene.”
Tanaë | Listen
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Neo-Soul.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Tanaë is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from Belgium who’s influenced by Lauryn Hill and Amy Winehouse, but also artists of her own generation such as Jorja Smith, Billie Ellish and Sevdaliza. Listen is the first single of her upcoming album, due in 2021.”
Zum Raggidy | See Dem A Come
HOME BASE: Jamaica.
GENRE: Reggae.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I’m proud to introduce you to my second single, the result of fruitful collaborative work with Simone Filiali (Slipway Records, UK). The riddim is firmly rooted and rocks us with its typically English strength. The flow is once again striking and the very conscious lyrics invite us to a deep reflection of the social facts that shape our world. For Dub lovers, a special version is also available.”
Pontea | Come Find Me
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Los Angeles DIY electro-pop artist Pontea (pronounced Pon-ta), radiates fervor as her heart lives in the place that broke away from her familiar cultural norms. Growing up in a fairly traditional Persian-American home, Pontea went through her early life conflicted between others’ expectations and her own truth. Playing piano since she was seven, Pontea took up music and the arts as a liberating outlet of self-expression. Throughout her youth, she would experiment with performing as a dancer, actress, and musician, but her aching for music truly took over after receiving her Bachelors in Psychology from UCLA. That’s when she made the veracious decision to break through the limiting standards of a woman’s role in her culture and pursue her passion full time. Surrounding herself with talented friends and collaborators, Pontea’s DIY approach has seen constant growth since late last year. Building on a loyal fan base stemming from a handful of self-produced cover videos that have garnered over 100K views on YouTube, and having released her debut EP Unpredictable last year, it’s no question that her following is on an upward swing. The fully immersive experience of music has given Pontea a deep sense of empowerment, and she hopes to use her journey to inspire young women to follow their hearts and share their voices in the face of adversity. Come Find Me is dedicated to #mentalhealthawareness and all of those that are going through tough times & dark days. I brought together raw footage from real people during quarantine in their own spaces, taking us on a journey of what it’s like behind closed doors when faced with our own demons.”
Stefano D’Amico | Revival
HOME BASE: Italy.
GENRE: Classical.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Stefano was born in Turin in 1996. At the age of 12 he began studying piano. He composes pop music, piano music and orchestral music. He took part in several regional and national competitions. Between 2011 and 2014 he was the keyboard player of The Last Stars, an emerging group of the Apulian territory. Lately, he has abandoned pop music to devote himself entirely to piano and orchestral music and he started publishing his compositions. He is also a convinced environmentalist, and often takes part in environment campaigns or helps raising awareness about pollution and climate change. Indeed his last album is inspired by the beauty of our planet which is threatened by those issues. Revival is the first song of the album Tribute to the Earth. Revival, when nature wakes up!”
The Everminds | Song For Everyone
HOME BASE: England / France.
GENRE: Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The Everminds is an indie-rock band living between London and Paris. “For us music is like a slow-cooked recipe, done with time and passion.” Sebastien, Laurent and Eric are 3 brotherly souls that have been in pursuit of a turtle dream: Re-creating an iconic analogue studio to allow them to craft the album they’ve always dreamed of. To fulfil their fantasy they acquired an old dusty SSL 4000 G console and adapted it to the 21 st century, transformed two garages into a little wooden state-of-the-art vintage studio and started to record and produce songs. Third single Song For Everyone is “an important song for us, an important message and also the title of our upcoming album. This song is dedicated to all listeners. It talks about communion, love and time slowly running by. It talks about prayers, about Nature and about an ideal land that we could all share. It talks about a perfect day. It’ll come soon.”
Tarriq | More Of You
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: R&B.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “More of You is a mellow collaboration between Tarriq and producer Lev, depicting a damaged relationship where the individuals care about each other but are not compatible because of their love languages and past behaviour. On the hook, the main character who is on the road to fame and fortune tells his lover that she can tell her friends about the experience she had with him (good or bad) but they won’t believe it and thinks that maybe they just need more time to work things out with each other (as heard on the post-chorus). The contrast between what’s wrong with their relationship as laid out in the verse and the lust heard in chorus is used to highlight the confusion in toxic relationships.”
Blazar | Tomorrow
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Electronic Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “A collaborative effort led by Jerad Finck with some of the hottest writers and producers working behind the scenes in music right now. Blazar is just getting started. This is our collab with DAXSEN. We wanted to combine some cool retro synths with modern modulations and effects.”
Sahara Pop | Délice
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “We are an indie band that is looking for the right balance between poetic ambiguity and simple beauty.”
Ajaxbeats | Mitochondria
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Electronic.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Chill hip-hop instrumental with springtime / summer vibes.”
