Thanks to the inexplicable popularity of my Submit Music page, I always have a digital backlog of albums, EPs, singles and videos awaiting my perusal. Here are the latest submissions that caught my ears and eyes. As usual, it’s a pretty eclectic lineup, with rock, pop, punk, hip-hop, and plenty more in the mix. The one thing they have in common: Any of them could easily be your new favourite artist. And if they are, I’ve included Bandcamp links wherever possible so you can buy the music straight from the source. Tell ’em I sent ya. And if you’ve got something I need to hear, send it my way. If I think you’re half as good as you think you are, I just might include you next time.
Amaury Laurent Bernier
34 Days in Lockdown
THE PRESS RELEASE: Amaury Laurent Bernier was born in 1980 near Paris. He decided to get into Music after finding a Led Zeppelin record and an old acoustic guitar in his parents’ house. After creating his first band, he spent then about 12 years on the road and in the studios with different bands as a songwriter, producer and arranger. He turned towards the film industry after being asked to compose the soundtrack of a short movie: The director was impressed by his faculties to be the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of music production, as he was able to play more than 10 instruments, sing, arrange and mix, aside from his passion and moving pictures in general. He has seized the break of the film industry during the lockdown to return to his first love: Writing songs. Taking 34 days to write, record, produce, and mix an entire album on his own, he created a bunch of quirky songs that mix folk & pop with a huge vintage vibe, wrapped in a modern production. His mandolin and vocal harmonies as the centrepiece and the leading thread of the opus.”
Suit of Lights
Hide & Seek
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Hide & Seek is the new album from New Jersey’s Suit of Lights, the songwriting outlet for Joe Darone. His past collaborators include Trevor Dunn of Mr. Bungle, Steve Pedulla of Thursday, and Jamie Egan of Catch 22 and Streetlight Manifesto. Darone’s musical journey began in the late ’80s as a founding member of the pop-punk band The Fiendz (whose career peak found them opening for The Ramones). He later joined The Rosenbergs, a power-pop group that toured with Echo & the Bunnymen and Tom Tom Club, among others, and whose songs were featured in shows like MTV’s Undergrads and the opening theme for the sitcom Accidentally on Purpose. Darone draws upon an eclectic range of influences including art-rock, 60’s pop, punk, new wave, metal, and baroque pop in the over 50 songs he has written. In his latest album, Hide and Seek (2020), Suit of Lights’ DNA continues to expand and evolve. “The creation of my own studio has afforded me the time to experiment and create exactly what I want to hear,” Darone says. Hide and Seek is an album of games. The cover art depicts consciousness emerging from an empty void, seeking adventure. “In the title track, I name the protagonist ‘The Great Pretender,’ better known as ‘God’, who is playing hide and seek forever and ever,” Darone explains. Beginning with birth in Tag, and ending with death in Ring of Roses, you’ll recognize familiar children’s games reimagined in the context of modern misadventures in the human condition.”
Traces
000-0600
THE PRESS RELEASE: “000-0600 is the new release and beginning from 22-year-old artist Traces. His upcoming debut album 6 HRS takes place over the course of a six-hour sleep cycle, during which Traces struggles with his demons, broaching uncomfortable subjects universally pondered but rarely discussed in pop music. These first three songs give insight into the lyrical and sonic soundscape of the album. The title track, 6HRS, is a connected story where the main character is struggling with anger, self-loathing, a lost sense of identity and it’s all coming to a boiling point. Suddenly shifting into the second song, Night Terrors is a commentary on hype culture and sensationalist media accompanied by an eye-catching video including various clips from past tv shows, media personalities, and advertisements that have all come and gone. Finishing off strong, No Vacancy, is a song accounting the turmoil, physical experience of depression, and cyclical nature of trying to get rid of that internal pain through the wrong outlets. The album is set to release sometime later this year.”
Haley Alexander
I’m Feeling Things
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Harley Alexander is a Canadian artist who has been self-producing lo-fi indie pop for the past decade, mainly in Halifax. He has worked alongside Charlotte Day Wilson, The Everywheres, Walrus and Sports Day Records. I’m Feeling Things is his most stripped-down album thus far, giving space for honest narrative and sound.”
Oscar Merry
Unfurl
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Oscar Merry is a rare artist unfazed by the boxes that are genres. He managed to interweave between a myriad of genres from rock, folk, metal and indie. All the while his lyrical content is the binding glue to his varied, yet specific, sound. Touching upon love, loss and liquor, Oscar captures our hearts and minds with eloquent phrases and poetically crafted lyrics of a wordsmith. With a truly individual and inclusive approach to music, he has tracks that everyone can listen to, understand and enjoy. “At the core, my music is honest. I write about what I know; love, loss, hope, pain, relief. I write because I need to and music brings me solace in sharing my strife, or my victories, with others. From day one I listened to everything and I like to think that shows. I cut my teeth as a folk musician, playing small pubs and open mics around Bristol. I then made the incredible leap to fronting a metal band, a genre I have always loved but never been able to perform. My voice became grittier, harsher and the tunings became lower and lower.”
Math Club
Major Arcana
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Math Club is the musical project of Hamilton, Ont., songwriter Wade Morrison and all of his friends. With two EPs (2014’s Hunter EP and 2019’s Hunter Trilogy) and a full-length record (2016’s There’s a Light on Upstairs) under their belt, Math Club have carved out their own niche in the Hamilton music scene. An easy blend of early emo (American Football, Jets to Brazil), modern soft rock (Jimmy Eat World, Death Cab for Cutie, Pinegrove), and post-hardcore influences, Math Club’s sound is all their own. Smooth, clean guitars meet harsh, rusty ones. Heavy-handed drum fills come up against soft, quick, precise grooves. All capped off by real, every-man vocals singing sad songs over sweet sounds. Math Club is not a polished gem. It is uncut, raw, but you can tell it’s really worth something.”
Gravity Boots
Last Trip
THE PRESS RELEASE: “We are from Paris, France and we make music inspired by the late ’70s to the early ’90s — classic rock and alternative sounds like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and also Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers or even Ben Harper. Yes, we use a slide guitar too. And, we also try to sound like Gravity Boots! The EP is named after our flagship song Last Trip.”
Mt. Borracho
Civilization Encapsulation / Der Gartenzwerg von Zweilütschinen
THE PRESS RELEASE: “I’m a San Antonio-based artist that’s produced surrealistic drone. This album was recorded in 2020. We are heavily inspired by paranormal encounters and digital databending.”
H.Pe
Interfaction
THE PRESS RELEASE: “H.Pe is a musical project from Irish Canadian artist Ben Hope. Its roots stretch back to The Beatles, picking up sounds and melodies from Glam, Post Punk, New Wave, Alternative, and Synth Pop. Interfaction is his first album.”
Dakota Blue
Off The Grid & On The Run
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Off The Grid & On The Run is the new album from solo musician Dakota Blue. The uncanny indie rock collection was written in a paranoid, unsettling year of life. Dark music made of layers of guitar, synth, and bass swirls around subjects of fugitives, murder plots, movie villains, underground spaces, thieves, and strange, unwelcoming cities.”
