Laura Clauzel jogs your memory, Ytso & Wayne make a night of it, Ann is in a hurry, Panaviscope fake it, Mad Eye make the scene and more in today’s submissions from Groover, a platform that connects artists with critics like me for a small fee. You can (and should) subscribe to my Tinnitist Groover Top 100 playlist HERE, or you can listen to it via the widget at the lower right of every page on this site. If you want to be in an upcoming playlist, click the link just below the widget or go HERE. But first, treat yourself to these tracks.
Laura Clauzel | Won’t You Remember
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Jazz-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Between cabaret and recital, this worthy heiress of vocal singers has a poetic feather that charms and captivates. Laura Clauzel tells sometimes tragic, sometimes grotesque stories, in a modern soul with trip hop, jazz accents, a touch of electro but always authentic. The clip directed by Mathieu Mullier-Griffiths immerses us in a strong and poetic cinematic universe, which is reminiscent of the jazz atmosphere of Elevator To the Gallows by Louis Malle. Won’t You Remember is the wandering of a woman in love in a city not quite asleep … ”
Ytso & Wayne | The Night of Nights
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Alt-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Ytso and Wayne is an alternative rock project from Paris, born during the 2020 quarantine, involving songwriters Anne-Claire Bondon (Ex Nihilo Vox, Lefkes) and Vanessa Eldoh (Wayne). The pair has known each other for more than a decade, having played numerous shows together with their former bands and started working on their first track together in the mid 2010s. The project took shape when they resumed working on a couple of tracks in March 2020 as the Paris lockdown due to the Covid19 pandemic began. Anne-Claire & Vanessa share a mutual love for alternative rock music and draw their influence from bands like BRMC, Warpaint, Sonic Youth, The Black Keys, Savages as well as Oasis and Radiohead. Ytso and Wayne’s music breeds a deep poetic darkness, it is a punch in the face, a violent rush of blood through the heart that makes you feel alive and burn for a transcendental experience. Their first EP, It’s Nothing, Is it?, is to be released in September 2020. The Night of Nights is an alternative rock song about romantic violence, the need to find a meaningful place to live in and a meaningful relationship to build upon. It is melancholic and explosive, hypnotising and fiery.”
Ann | Les Gens Pressés
HOME BASE: Belgium.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “What I love is telling stories … Composing, writing, singing … My first artistic crush was on music. With a funky debut album in French 12 years ago, I went through the stages with great pleasure. Then came the improvisation, the acting and the creation that I was able to develop with my theater company. Our show Le Cirque des Femmes toured for three years in France and Belgium. Then, I created a radio and video concept on the professional reorientation of women. Today, I return to my first love — music — but with all these experiences that I have been able to store. With the desire to put my actress at the service of my interpretations, with a more direct approach in writing as in radio chronicles. My first EP is called Chronicles Of An Urban Life. Here is the second single. Between French song and urban electro, Les Gens Pressés describes well what we experience after the deconfinement; the return to “normal”, still as fast and urgent.”
Panaviscope | Sham
HOME BASE: Switzerland.
GENRE: Indie-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Panaviscope, the one-man band formed by Alex, who composes plays of all the instruments and sings, comes back with a new single Sham, whose apparent joyfulness hides an intense reflection on false pretenses. The video for Sham and its multiple mirror effects denounce the huge gap between the images that people project on others and their reality. The lyrics make us discover the darker aspect of the song while the video plunges us into a black & white universe showing catastrophic events as if they were part of the daily life. A journey of exploration both visual and musical.”
Mad Eye | The Scene
HOME BASE: United States/Germany.
GENRE: Indie-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Mad Eye is the new collaborative project from Howard “Merlin” Wulkan and Freddie Dickson. After seeing a video of Dickson’s on YouTube, Wulkan reached out and proposed a collaboration between the two and a friendship was born. Dickson, however, is based in Berlin and Wulkan in Southwest Florida, so the initial songwriting process was done 5,000 miles apart. After writing remotely, Dickson traveled to meet Wulkan at Farmadelica Sound, a recording studio based on an island off the coast of Southwest Florida, and one song became two which became five and so on until an EP was made together with the help of drummer Ryan Jarvis.”
Morgane Imbeaud | Beautiful Losers
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Morgane Imbeaud’s dropping the act. She’s getting real and going for it with her first solo album Amazone. Far from the madding crowd, somewhere in Scandinavia, Morgane Imbeaud has been writing and composing songs for Amazone with startling quiet force: bold keyboard melodies, the misty sound of a Fender Rhodes, lashings of electric guitar and the sound of her voice leading the way, a pure unmannered voice, freed from frivolity. ‘Less is more’ is the musical motto for this folk/rock album with an array of songs wading through light and dark and melodies that seem to mimic the intense tonalities and twists of northern auroras.”
John Bringwolves | Santhiago
HOME BASE: Italy.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Santhiago is the second single and episode of a quarantine story. The project initiated with the collaboration between the Turin-based producer John Bringwolves and Afra Zamara, a Londo- based set designer and multimedia artist. These two artists, merging music with images while being based in different countries, attempt to explore their respective experienced during the lockdown through a merged narrative reflection. Consider it an audio visual diary.”
https://youtu.be/58vDgvW1haY
Yann Cleary | Follow You
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Soul-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Franco-Irish singer-songwriter Yann Cleary clashes by mixing machines, traditional instruments and musical toys. This protégé of Laurent Garnier has fun with sweet pop and sensitive folk, infusing him with electronic attire and a playful dimension on stage. After a mini-album Tokyo in 2016, Yann Cleary offers this year a series of monthly singles with the participation of singer, chromatic harpist and composer Laura Perrudin, rising star of pop and jazz. The series of monthly singles heralds the EP Follow You, a chronicle of the breakdown of a romantic relationship. At the end of the year, we will be able to welcome an album which will compile all the titles where personal history echoes the great upheavals, between collapsology, toys made in China and migrants’ destinies, all carried by an instrumentarium of dozens of instruments.”
Rose Madeleine | Danse
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Rose Madeleine is the original soundtrack of a imaginary movie. The 12 tracks tell the love story of Rose and Leon. A meeting at a club, the beach and the hot summer nights give the rhythm to their story. It’s an easy and good vibe project which take us on a summer trip between dancing songs and ballades. Dance is the first track “up tempo” of the project. It illustrates the meeting of Rose and Léon in a club near the beach. It is a pop crossover that juggles between portraits of the two protagonists and tangy choreographies.”
Sofig | Sirènes de l’incertitude
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: None. All I can tell you is that the title means Sirens of Uncertainty.
https://youtu.be/kB4lN4d3QXU
Leila Lanova | Star Trek
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Soul/R&B.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Leila Lanova presents her new single Star Trek and propels you into space. On a trap beat, she will captivate you with her hovering voice between the striking basslines. With a touch of nonchalance, Leila transmits a message in which she questions the excess and the excess of information that we face. Post-quarantine and social distancing, are we in a film? Like an alien on earth, everything seems distorted. If like her, nothing makes any more sense, we salute as in Star Trek.“
Tristan | Nygma
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Rap.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “It was at the age of 30 that Tristan decided to confront his past by writing rap lyrics linked to certain episodes in his life. He realised that confession in his future projects could have a therapeutic impact in the same way as a session in a shrink’s office. Thus Haiti, where he grew up and lived a large part of his life, often remains the theatre of his songs, a setting in which his memories evolve. Now, after releasing a project Pile ou Face under the artist name Bpl’R, what Tristan seeks to share in his stories is their authenticity.”
Reyn | Avant Que Je N’Oublie
HOME BASE: Netherlands.
GENRE: Neo-Classical.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Reyn is multidisciplinary Dutch artist. An incredible musician who, is above all, a writer of genius, producer, mixing engineer and performer. From soundtracks of videogames to movie soundtracks and theme-tunes for TV series, Reyn also orchestrated for infamous Dutch orchestras like Residentie Orkest and Amsterdam Sinfonietta. He won numerous prizes at the Edisons, the Dutch music awards. In addition to his classical experience with orchestras, Reyn is also a producer and musical director that has made his mark on the French Pop scene, having worked on albums and tours for artists such as Vanessa Paradis, Benjamin Biolay, Stephan Eicher and Alex Beaupain, among others. For his solo project, Reyn showcased the extent of his virtuoso classical piano skills to create a project that combines elements of classicism and modernity, purity and emotion, tradition, and avant-garde.”
https://youtu.be/bFurqf6qB8U
Nighting Naty | The One
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Reggae-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The result of a collaboration between Nighting Naty and Zéric, the first on vocals and the second on instrumental version, this reggae song takes on a digital texture while keeping the classic codes and styles. We are looking for a synthesis between old school and modern, therefore timelessness. The One will then be followed by a Dub version by Zéric, and subsequently by a second song, also with its Dub version. This series is called Nighting Naty Meets Zéric.”
Levyn Garner | One Touch
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Reggaeton.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “French DJ/Producer. Pretty much sure I make cool ass music.”
Freddy Charles | Dissolve
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “This track spans a few genres and is definitely for a listener who likes a larger degree of musicality. “
Mandy Takes A Gun | Another Way
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Sophisticated pop inspired by New Order, Radiohead, Morrissey.”
Barang | New Life
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “My first single.”
Part Time Perfect | Not Alone
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Rap-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Not Alone is a collaboration with fellow Pacific Northwest artist Ryan Reed. It is a hip-hop/rock crossover that celebrates community in art and lifting each other up instead of tearing down. Not Alone is the last single before the full-length Part Time Perfect sophomore album All I Need (Is Everything) comes out July 10.”
Tamas Szigyarto | Tilted Shadows
HOME BASE: United Kingdom
GENRE: Neo-Classical.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Two-part piano poem in neo / contemporary classical genre.”
A Craig | Manoir
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Hip-Hop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Rap in French and English.”
The McKenzie Fix | Alone
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Alt-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Following several albums as frontman of Edinburgh formed combo Emporium, musician-songwriter Ewan McKenzie launches his new alternative pop project The McKenzie Fix with poignant and reflective single Alone. Combining subtle and sparse instrumentation with a haunting and thoughtful vocal performance, McKenzie presents an expertly crafted piece of storytelling (the song was co-written with lyricist Kay Russell), that will get under your skin in all the right ways. McKenzie has an eclectic collection of songs and releases behind his back. His music is kaleidoscopic and diverse — he is continuously finding new ways to express himself through a broad sonic palette. The release of Alone precedes a debut album from The McKenzie Fix, expected later in 2020.”
Tin | Heroes in a Frame
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Tin is a Parisian singer, composer and producer. Her music describes the ups and downs of a girl who makes her own songs, in the sound and the fury, in joyfulness and quakes. After 2 successful EPs, and a fresh and darker single, she is preparing the release of her new album.”
Mertanik | J’Aime Quand Il Brûle
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Rap.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Mertanik is a rap group of two twin brothers, Dokk and Zarby from Essonne. They are songwriters, they released their first project on streaming platforms in November 2018 called Lantern Stories. They have a quirky universe and instrumental very specific to their musical identity which does not leave indifferent to traditional rap listeners. This song speaks of the adrenaline caused by the euphoria that we share with friends during night outings, and the strong surges of dopamine that we feel when we consume illicit substances.”
