The Everminds give you an earful, Matilde Girasole pours it on, Babyfang share a taste, Jordan Bussell burns one down 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. Now, on with today’s goodness:
The Everminds | Can You Hear Me Now
HOME BASE: France/England.
GENRE: Indie-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The Everminds is an indie-rock band living between London and Paris. Their motto: “For us music is like a slow-cooked recipe, done with time and passion.” Sebastien, Laurent and Eric are three brotherly souls that have been in pursuit of a turtle dream: Re-creating an iconic vintage 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. They are joined by friends Antoine Reininger, an amazing bass player, as well as the one-of-a-kind backing vocalist Susie Webb, who added their indelible print to the compositions. The Everminds do not pretend to be seamless, their let transpire “track bleeds and electric tears” rather than be cursed by an unnatural clinical recording. They believe emotion comes before perfection and they try hard to capture an energy and a glimpse of down-to-earth realism in the music they compose. Hopefully simple and pure emotion. Their fourth single Can You Hear Me Now reveals a new music angle for the band. A haunting duet, both powerful and romantic, that ends on an epic crescendo, their signature trait.”
Matilde Girasole | Cup of Tea
HOME BASE: Singapore.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I’m a teenage Italian singer-songwriter based in Singapore, but most of my listeners are from the United States. I play piano and guitar but my main instrument is voice. I won many international music contest and I had the chance to perform on important stages. This song represents a milestone in my artistic growth. During lockdown I had the change to focus more on who I am as an artist and I worked a lot on my identity. This is the result, I hope you guys like it.”
Babyfang | Taste
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “On Feb 12, 2019, Théo purchased his first guitar, an olive-colored Fender Stratocaster aptly to be named Olive. On Feb 4, 2020, Théo had his first rehearsal with two fellow Brooklyn musicians: Producer and percussionist Canteen Killa, né Samuel Ogoe, Jr., and bassist and vocalist of future-soul alt-rock band Jelani Sei, Evan Lawrence. Formed five weeks before New York started ‘shelter-in-place’ due to Covid-19, Babyfang were lucky enough to play two shows as a band, allowing them to workshop and record the songs that would become their first release Olive Juice. The songs are an attempt at capturing the joyfully chaotic, blissful, lustful, intense, precious and urgent energy of new love. The title is inspired by the memory of mouthing the words Olive Juice to your crush as a kid, which would look to them like “I love you.” The songs are an attempt at capturing the joyfully chaotic, blissful, lustful, intense, precious and urgent energy of new love.”
https://youtu.be/BFwNFzmjMzY
Jordan Bussell | Burn Down
HOME BASE: United Kingdom
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Jordan is a 20something singer songwriter from not quite the middle of nowhere in the South West of England. She’s been on the musical circuit for over 10 years and has recently put out her story-style debut album Wolves & Curses. A jack-of-all-trades musician and studio tech, she has written, performed, recorded and produced all of her work entirely herself in her budget bedroom studio, all the way down to the mastering. Her work draws on quite a few influences and hopefully has something for everyone. Burn Down is one of two a cappella pieces from the album, and is a particularly chilled and haunting vocal medley with simple lyrics but tonnes of classically inspired harmonies.”
Barrique D’Encre | Les Corneilles (Radio Edit)
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Folk.
THE TRANSLATED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “After five years composing and singing for different folk-rock projects in Montreal, I finally wrote my first solo album. From minimalist folk to American folk singer-songwriter, Concerto En Solitude Majeure is obviously a series of songs that tends toward my inner little self. Les Corneilles is a song about the passing of time and our obsession with foiling death. She listens to herself with a glass of scotch in her hand.”
Mariatti | Variable Speed of Life
HOME BASE: Italy.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “From the age of 15 till 21, Mariatti released many records under the name of Andrea Dub. He was lucky enough to get booked in different countries. After high school his passion went deeper: He degreed at Sae Institute of Milan in audio production to push the boundaries of his technical limits. Three years ago he came back to his hometown and he built a studio to work on music everyday. Variable Speed Of Life is Mariatti’s second independent release and its title came from the quarantine experience: For the first time in our lives, we got more aware about the flow of time and its importance.”
Merry Christmas | Meredith Bites The Earth
HOME BASE: Japan.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Merry Christmas are a 10-legged festive wonder tank from Tokyo, Japan. They blend elements of fuzz-folk, math-rock and pop into melodic hooks which are contagiously catchy but impossible to assign to a single existing genre. Ben George (fmr: Cats and Cats and Cats), Matthew Thoren (fmr: Placebo Sound) and Joe-Joe Moran-Douglas (fmr: At Risk) were brought together in 2012 through a mutual love of Neutral Milk Hotel, and after recruiting Yuki Nishimura and Yurie “Barihi” Yamaguchi (fmr: Lazs), the band quickly developed an underground following in Tokyo. Meredith Bites the Earth is a leading track from their album The Night The Night Fell set for release on Aug. 1. On Meredith, a lazy 9/8 verse wrapped in warm omnichord flows into a pop chorus of naked bass and drums — stilts for a melody — only to revert back to a victorious realization, wrapping up an important chapter of longer and more complex story. A bubble gum fuzz-folk math adventure, disguised as a pop song that you just can’t let go.”
The Census | Celine
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The song is a plea from a man to a woman to know where he stands. After all the time spent agonizing over tip-of-the-tongue love, the man has come to a desperate point of love it or leave it. Are things not as they seem? Is he hanging on the edge of a dream? Sadly, it seems he’ll be left on read once again. Hell of a bop, though! A ballad-style anthem that will hit home with many.”
Mike La Funk | La La La ft. Mingue
HOME BASE: Germany.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I would like to introduce you to my new song with the Dutch topline singer Mingue. La La La is a fresh, summery deep house track with an infectious chorus, loaded with feel-good vibes. Perfect for the poolside, Ibiza nights or summer events. Mingue is the voice of some well-known house music productions like Missing ft. EDX.”
Charlie Grant | Astronaut
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
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 song craft. His latest track Astronaut is uptempo and energetic and deals with finding a way to see the world through new eyes — in his case by becoming a father. Oh, and if you ever wondered what a violin sounds like through a tremolo pedal, stick around until the end.”
Out Of The Ordinary x Rosanne Erskine x Check Masses | Kind Of Strange (Wallace & Morris North Street Remix)
HOME BASE: Scotland.
GENRE: Noir-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Kind of Strange is taken from Edinburgh supergroup Out of the Ordinary’s debut album, Stranger Things Have Happened. The original version is an eerily, atmospheric track with a classic film noir vibe, underscored with beats provided by Joseph Malik on the 1s and 2s, in collaboration with Check Masses members Vic Galloway, Saleem Andrew McGroarty and Philly Collins. Vocal powerhouses Rosanne Erskine and Collins will have you looking over your shoulder with their edgy, unsettling vocal delivery — was that a ghostly outline or just a curtain blowing in the breeze? Combine all of these elements with the mighty Steven Christie’s keyboard, Paulo ‘Brother’ Riddle’s anchoring percussion and McGroarty at the production controls, something rather special comes out of the speakers. To prepare for their North Street remixes, Jo Wallace and Darren Morris immersed themselves in continuous re-runs of iconic TV series Randall + Hopkirk [Deceased] and Tales of the Unexpected, enabling them to channel their inner John Barry. Throughout the track, Darren provides swirling, cinematic vamps and lush string arrangements echoing the Warsaw Concerto whilst Chris Greive’s haunting trombone and Galloway, on his electric guitar, beautifully underpin the melody, transporting the listener back to a world of black-and-white mystery and suspense
