Naya Ali gets your goat, Stevie Bill checks in, Gianfranco GFN jazzes it up, FOMO time travels 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.
Naya Ali | G.O.A.T. Talk (Remix) ft. Benny Adam & White-B
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Hip-Hop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “An Ethiopian-born rapper established in Montreal, Naya Ali arrives as a breath of fresh air on Quebec’s hip-hop scene. With a flamboyant personality and a flow like no other, Naya Ali is able to take us from a scathing universe to a dark world, without any compromise. A few months after the highly acclaimed release of her album Godspeed: Baptism (Prelude), Ali is back as she brilliantly revisits the single G.O.A.T Talk. For the occasion, she surrounded herself very well as she gave the floor, in French this time, to two prominent Rap Queb figures, Benny Adam and White-B; a collaboration that certainly adds a lot of richness and power to a song with already very assumed and rather dark sounds. Moreover, the mixture of softer melodies and sharper moments is for the artist a sound illustration of Float like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee by Muhammad Ali. Produced by Benny Adam, the track refers to the idea of being surrounded by the right people and keeping your integrity under pressure.”
Stevie Bill | The Hotel
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “After finishing high school in Amsterdam, Stevie Bill quickly realized that to live her musical dreams, she had to write her own stories. Born to an English mother and a Dutch father, she moved to Berlin after her 17th birthday and she soon found herself working in studios and writing songs for other artists. While in Berlin, Stevie applied to the prestigious Clive Davis Institute at NYU. She was accepted and moved there in September at age 19. Her melodies and lyrics are always in motion, inspired by contemporary artists like Post Malone, Clairo and ’90s R&B singers like Toni Braxton and TLC. With The Hotel, Bill celebrates her first release. Accompanied by her soft, intimate vocals and a day-dreamy atmosphere, The Hotel tells a story about a passionate summer romance that left her with a bitter taste. The intimate moments were incredible, but then she realizes she ‘should’ve known at the hotel, you were bad for my health.’ The video accompanying the song was made with friends during a road trip in the Netherlands. The laid-back vibe emphasizes the playfulness of Stevie’s project. With a string of releases planned for the next few months, Stevie will be traveling and Zooming to work with friends in the different places she’s lived.”
Gianfranco GFN | Adagio
HOME BASE: Switzerland.
GENRE: Jazz-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Gianfranco GFN is a guitarist and composer whose influences are jazz, blues, bossa and funk. Following his first album Linea and his EP Interlude, Gianfranco released his second album Downtown in Person ’70s, with 11 Instrumental tracks in an Acid-Jazz style. This song is the beginning of a new series of songs in preparation for a new album!”
Miassi | Ed Ard Dor
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Reggae-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Miassi is an artist steeped in various influences. Between his majestic guitar riffs or his warm and rocky voice, his compositions take on the appearance of great standards! Miassi speaks of his compositions with integrity: “You can’t compose a song just to compose. You have to have something to say, you can’t choose pretty words just to please and sell records.” For him, failure is more real for the artist. The inspiration it depends on to create can cause stress. Another form of stress that remains predominant is financial security. Once the composition is completed, you have to find the means to produce it and then communicate it through social networks, radio stations or musical sites.”
FOMO | 1965
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Rap.
THE TRANSLATED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Because there is no more time to wait, the birth of FOMO — Fear Of Missing Out — is recorded by this first clip for 1965. FOMO is an artist of today who is difficult to place in a box. Juggling between song and rap, between instrumental trap and acoustic version, between maturity and eternal childhood, the lyrics are punchy, the melodies are catchy and the flow transports us. Sometimes virulent in words, everything is forgiven the young rapper thanks to this voice that is both soft and assertive. A balance which he has made his stated objective. From Jay-Jay Okocha to Mihajlovic via Keanu Reeves, the personalities who have marked his life parade in a technical sequence that surprises. With raw softness, 1965 initiates FOMO’s quest for harmony, in the form of permanent and perfectly accepted questioning.”
Bruno Bisaro & Les Ouragans Gris | Premier Amour
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Folk.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Bruno Bisaro is a French songwriter and performer. He is also known as an LGBT activist. He lives and works in the Paris suburbs. He is a renowned artist of contemporary creation but also one of the actors in the renewal of a European counterculture. For more than 10 years, he has contributed, through the production of a demanding work constantly renewed and thanks to the singularity of his artistic approach, to the dynamism and influence of the independent and alternative French-speaking scene.”
Abi2spee | Tranquille
HOME BASE: Switzerland.
GENRE: Hip-Hop Soul.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Abi2spee is an ambivalent rapper: constantly oscillating between softness and power, seriousness and humour, divided between his hometown and his city of adoption (Geneva and Marseille), he can’t help but apply this duality to his music. Full of energy and love, Abi2spee easily goes from Trap to R&B, sometimes allowing himself to add blues-rock sounds to his compositions: the result is a kind of music that is liberating, focused on the sharing of good energies, constantly changing and evolving, to which Abi2spee has given the name of Love & Juice Music. Tranquille is a light rap-soul ballad, which in the chorus turns into a pop hymn to freedom. On a beat with futuristic chill-out accents, Abi2spee describes with a very particular humor and sense of metaphor his way of apprehending the reality of human society, and his subversive philosophy of life. Fun, relaxing and sunny, radio-friendly, Tranquille ticks all the boxes for a good summer.”
Wire Edge | End Of The Road
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Metal.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Formed out of a mutual admiration for the mid ’90s rock sounds, Wire Edge gathered in Paris around a bunch of cold riffs that led, in time, to a full length 10-track album. Intricate guitar parts, dark and elegant vocals, deconstructed drum style set the sound of their debut album Workhorse Empire. It unveils all of the hard work invested in the creation of each of the tracks, the attention paid to detail and harmony as much as the raw energy only metal can deliver.”
Clint Is Good | ManDem
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Rap.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Rocked by music from an early age, Clint Is Good first received classical training before switching to rap and then grime. Demanding, his musicality and his attraction to instruments such as the guitar allow him to develop a singular musical universe. His sound resonates on his first EP French Grime, released in 2019.”
Mowille | Sugar Daddy
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: World Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Sugar Daddy portrays wealth boasting and romance in a comedic way.”
Jonny Fallout | Lights In The Sky
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Jonny Fallout writes and produces electronic music of all kinds — from house to drum-and-bass to downtempo. When he’s not abusing the upper limits of his machine’s RAM or obsessively dissecting samples, he also remixes tracks. Fallout got his start playing at Boston-area bars and clubs, and covered the electronic music scene, writing for local publications. While living in London, Jonny learned sound engineering and music production, working at a recording studio that created ad music. Now, Jonny Fallout is regularly releasing new house singles, combining ’80s new wave synth pop and sinuous vocals with thumping, driving beats. Lights In The Sky, his newest synthwave track, pulls from dance-pop, industrial music, old school video games, and sci-fi films of the ’80s to create a remarkably immersive alien romance. The song will excite listeners with its bright melodies, chunky cybernetic beats, and unmistakable retro-futuristic style.”
Our Man In The Field | Easy Going Song
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Folk.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Think of Our Man In The Field — aka Alexander Ellis — as an independent correspondent, with his works dispatches from his travels. So classically crafted are Ellis’ songs that you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve heard Our Man In The Field somewhere before. He and his brilliant band of pedal steel, guitar, banjo, upright bass and drums (with fine harmony backing vocals) take inspiration from the alt-Americana and Caledonian soul stylings of Van Morrison, Neil Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ryan Adams and Wilco. His own sound is indefinable yet familiar — its introspective, intimate and deeply soulful style stands comfortably alongside modern day artists Ray LaMontagne, Damien Rice, Foy Vance and Joe Purdy. “My parents always said John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane was their song. My father had to work away a lot so they were always having to say goodbye and I remember my mother listening to it and being sad and happy at the same time. Easy Going Smile is my take on the same situation, a kind of answer to the person leaving on the jet plane. I hope John Denver and my dad would approve — at least I know it also makes my mother sad and happy at the same time when she listens to it. Like all the songs on my album which is coming out in September, we recorded this live with no overdubs so maybe the production isn’t as polished as most modern music the feel of a live performance is there.”
