Larynx sees the light, Emilie Brandt feels all the feels, L’oléfan share their worldview, Be Kadri will be alright, Bakakaï call you onto the carpet 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. Now, let’s turn it up:
Larynx | Lumière d’espoir
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Lumière d’espoir (Light of Hope) brings all the elements together to go on an adventure, one that leads to the discovery of a fantastic world where the imaginary meets reality like a half-waking dream. Larynx‘s colorful psyche and the song are revealed over surprising structures, fundamentally catchy verses even letting appear a big guitar solo and a whistled air; a balanced microdose between psychedelia and the cream of French-language song. Commenting on the recipe behind the extract, Larynx explains, “How did I do it? I fell.” A picture is worth a thousand words, an adage confirmed by the video clip that accompanies Lumière d’espoir. In a 100% delicious and homemade production, filmed in a mitten with her girlfriend’s iPhone and the only collaborator on this project, Cynthia Rousselle Blanchette, Larynx took advantage of her first days of confinement at the family chalet to shoot wacky scenes with the only guideline is the inexpensive greenscreen made with neon green cards. This is how things like a guitar, windows or stoves have become real portals opening into a parallel universe, halfway between a Kafka novel and an episode of Twin Peaks. “Perform, play, mount. A salad of nonsense for some. A vitamin pyramid for me!”
Emilie Brandt | Feel It All
HOME BASE: U.S.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Blazing an ever-so-visible trail from the success of her previous collaboration Known You Before with icons Jason Ross and Seven Lions, Emilie decides to strip everything back and experiment with the plethora of creative ideas that she has at hand. Not one to comply with the rules of genre stereotypes, Emilie’s latest track Feel It All is a completely fresh and fruity track that is just bursting at the seams with summer nostalgia. The track opens with a distinctive amplified electric guitar that ties in with an aptly fitting whistle, Emilie’s famous vocals follow and ignite the track from an amber into a roaring blaze. Expect a ‘hair in the air’ poppy single that is sure to signal your dopamine receptors and lift your spirits. Speaking about the track, Emilie notes, “Feel It All, at its core, is a feel-good song that makes me think of summertime. It’s about running away from your problems with your ride or die and escaping reality for a while – all in the name of good fun. It’s important to me to remind myself to stop getting caught up in the monotonous day-to-day grind and have a good time just for the hell of it. This song makes me want to ditch my responsibilities and ride off into the sunsets with my buds.”
L’oléfan | Géographique
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “L’oléfan was born from the common imagination of two sisters: Lolita and Fania. Since their childhood, they have been immersed in the world of theatre and the stage and it is quite natural that they embrace a career as classical and pop musicians. In creating L’olefan, they decided to combine their love of music with that of the French language. The lyrics, carried by two voices, one caressing and the other powerful, are sung, whispered or chanted. They are anchored in the urgency of our times. Their original compositions, to the sound of piano and trumpet, are on the borderline of musical road-movie, blues, world music and acid pop. They have been touring Parisian concert halls for the past two years. Géographique is a song that sounds like a journey around the world. The caressing then powerful voices take shape on the curves of swaying music. Map of our imagination but also of our reading of the past, present and future world. In French, we go through our childhood and then our adolescence in a world that is growing too fast for us, which is burning at top speed. we share our dreams and our disappointments, our struggles and our hopes.”
Bea Kadri | Be Alright
HOME BASE: Beirut.
GENRE: R&B.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Lebanese singer-songwriter Bea Kadri grew up most of her life in her hometown Beirut listening to mostly Pop, Hip-Hop and R&B from the ’90s. Feeling understood by music, especially in her teenage years, Bea was shy and afraid to express her true self, looking to fit in with her society where her only solace was that in the music she was listening to. She’d stay in her room and constantly consume music, daydream, imitate her favorite artists to the mirror and jot down thoughts and lyrics in her journal. In 2018, she moved to London and found many amazing opportunities in the city — such as performing at the Brit Awards 2018 with Justin Timberlake and his choir, as well as singing & songwriting for Universal Music UK. Her sound is chill and sultry and she writes and sings about self-discovery, empowerment and all matters of the heart. Her main message first and foremost is “to dare to follow your dreams “: believe in yourself, shut down the doubt and to use the negativities and challenges as fuel to break away from the expected paths to happiness and fulfillment.”
Bakakaï | Wetherspoon’s Carpet
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Psychedelic Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Psychedelic rock and vaudeville arias had a baby with us.”
Livingston | Show Me The Money
HOME BASE: London.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Formed in the multi-cultural hub of London, Livingston are Beukes Willemse and guitarist / keyboardist Chris van Niekerk from South Africa, drummer Jan Siekmann from Germany and bassist Phil Magee from the U.K. Finding their feet with 2009’s debut Sign Language and 2012’s Fire To Fire, the band achieved numerous successes. Their single Broken went to Top 20 and their second single Go was the official song for German national broadcaster ZDF during the Winter Olympics of 2010. Their music has also been featured in numerous TV shows. Their single Human reached No. 4 on the European Charts. While waiting for their new record This is a Robbery to be released, Livingston are back with the single Show Me the Money.”
Urmull & Kraðak | One Eyed Jack
HOME BASE: Iceland.
GENRE: Electro-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “We are an Icelandic electronic trip-hop/synth-pop duo. A bass player and a keyboardist. We began playing funk 20 years ago and now we have just started this venture, Urmull & Kraðak.”
Slim Tin Fox | When I Get Off
HOME BASE: Ireland.
GENRE: Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Irish hard rock!”
Charlie Grant | I Got The Fear
HOME BASE: U.K.
GENRE: Folk-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “U.K. native Charlie Grant got his first break in music as a songwriter for hire, landing cuts with Melanie C, Michael Patrick Kelly, Simply Red, Robert Miles, Marco Mengoni and Leslie Clio, among many others. However, the original dream of writing and releasing music as an artist in his own right refused to stay quiet for long and kept pestering him from the back of his mind. So, pulling in favours and forming a new currency based on pints of beer owed to various musician friends and studio owners, Charlie got used to recording in the dead of night and set to work on a heartfelt set of songs focused on musicianship, storytelling and songcraft. Says Grant: “I Got The Fear is an uptempo and energetic tune that features backing vocals from Jessica Greenfield from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. It has a bluesy rock ’n’ roll vibe that reflects my love of bands like Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones.”
PebbL | On Your Shoulders
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “PebbL has loved, played, learned, taught and shared music for more than 30 years now — on three continents, under different names. He’s been playing (live or for recording sessions) with a wide range of different musicians, supporting them on the drums, percussions, keyboards, backing vocal, as a writer, a composer or an arranger.”
JJ Duel | She’ll Come Running
HOME BASE: London.
GENRE: Indie-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Londoner JJ Duel takes a trip through the dark corners of ’60s psychedelia and drone rock, from The Byrds to The Velvet Underground and feeds it through his love of the ethereal textures and sonic booms of My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Spiritualized. Lyrically the songs stand at the intersection between the personal and the political, Duel’s words searching for meaning in a world turned upside down by the events of the last few years. His work-in-progress sophomore album is set to drop later this year and promises to be something special. Imagine Spiritualized covering an undiscovered song by The Byrds — that’s the concept of She’ll Come Running, a song about the destructiveness of human nature; the euphoric chorus is at odds with melancholic words, and that’s the tension that draws listeners in.”
Tennin | We Stand Alone
HOME BASE: Paris.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “With the publication of a handful of songs that received attention from many outlets, the rising alt-pop artist Tennin quickly exploded into the international pop scene in 2015. The following year, Tennin built upon her growing profile through concerts across France, Germany and the U.K. Adding to a relatively young career of big highlights, her single Heal You caught the attention of acclaimed trip-hop pioneer Tricky, who signed it to his label False Idols. 2019 saw her opening for the likes of Dope Saint Jude and Muthoni Drummer Queen at Les Cuizines. Tennin is currently working on an EP that should be out for fall 2020. Says Tennin: “We Stand Alone is a cry from the heart for each of our personal or silent fights.”
