The Listros have your number, Dekker celebrates the little things, WE Junior is infectious, Oxidix gets into the mystic — and there’s plenty more magic to be found in today’s submissions from Groover, a platform that connects artists with critics like me for a small fee. You can (and should) visit to my Tinnitist Top 150 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.
The Listros | Numbers
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Indie-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Soon after Sean Listro released his first singles, he realized he needed a creative and artistic balance. That balance came in the form of his brother Evan. Crucial to the Listro sound, Evan has joined forces with Sean to form The Listros — a dystopian alt-rock duo with a larger-than-life sound (reminiscent of Oasis, U2 and Pink Floyd) ready to take the world for everything it’s got. The duality between the brothers — Sean as the technical thinker and Evan as the intuitive mystic — comes through in the latest single Numbers. The track begins with a bluesy, atmospheric, acoustic riff as Sean sings about the nagging voice in the back of his head telling him to make the jump on his latest artistic endeavour. “It can come from procrastination or just self-doubt,” Sean says. “This is a song for everyone who has ever felt stuck in what they are doing, whether that’s being stuck at a dead-end job or being part of something you secretly have no aspiration for.” Adds Evan: “We’re all striving for that pursuit of something that fulfills and fuels our soul and that’s what Numbers is about.” Thesong is the last single to preview The Listros’ upcoming debut EP Resemblance, out later this year.”
https://youtu.be/70X8QM0fbeM
Dekker | Small Wins
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Known as the American half of the Anglo-American Indie-Folk duo Rue Royale, Brookln Dekker is also now a solo artist under the surname-moniker Dekker. He’s got his own sound. He’s got his own look. He’s got his own style. And though he’s garnering success, it seems he’d be doing this if no one was watching or listening. There is a passion that feels like it needs to come out. His lates song Small Wins has a lighter touch. It’s a bouncy indie-folk song that doesn’t hide from the difficulties and uncertainties of life but rather finds reasons to celebrate. The song was recorded with drummer Stefan Wittich in Berlin and Nottingham. Mixing and mastering was done in Wisconsin by Zach Hanson (Bon Iver, The Staves, Sylvan Esso).”
WE Junior | Infection Pt. 1
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Electro-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “In this time we live in, we need to inspire each other to be careful for all our best interests. Targeting your heart and soul, Infection Pt. 1 reflects on those things WE shoud pay attention to.”
EXCLUSIVE: Oxidix | Shamanu
HOME BASE: Switzerland.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Manuel Tröhler aka Oxidix is a DJ, turntablist, remixer and producer from Bern. Known for his sophisticated sampling, his DJ skills and as a backup MC for various bands in hip-hop, world and electronic, Oxidix can be found on all kinds of stages. His own compositions move somewhere between downtempo, electronic and hip-hop, offering a dreamy, warm and melodic trip that entrances as much through headphones as it does on the dancefloor. He says: “After spending a weekend with a shaman, I was so inspired and influenced by the experience that I produced this track. It is my debut single as a solo artist. I played all the instruments myself and used a lot of field recordings as textures. In the next five months I will release four more singles and an EP. For lovers of Bonobo, Four Tet, Jamie xx, Nicola Cruz or El Buho.”
Jacaré | Côco das Mães
HOME BASE: Germany.
GENRE: World.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Jacaré perform original songs inspired by old Samba melodies, blending French chanson and Afro-Brazilian percussions with traditional vocal harmonies. The single Côco das Mães is inspired by the repentistas Beija-Flor e Oliveira, and is an homage to the mothers of this earth.”
https://youtu.be/1WSSypSywh0
DG Solaris | I Don’t Think So
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Folk.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “DG Solaris is the project of musician Danny Green. As a performer, Danny is a rakish front man, making the audience laugh in one song and reducing them to bittersweet tears the next. Danny is releasing a series of singles during 2021. I Don’t Think So, is a cover of a Marty Willson-Piper song. Danny met Marty (previously a member of influential ’80s rock band The Church) when they shared a week-long tour of Texas in October 2018, along with songwriter Salim Nourallah. Danny speaks: “I listened to Marty sing it every night and I fell in love with the melody and lyrical defeat. After the tour, Salim invited me for a day in his studio and it was still going around my head, so we sang it together.”
Loo & Monetti | Goodbye
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Loo & Monetti are a French duo. Their music is at the crossing of electro, polymorphic song and the flavour of the ’90s. Trance and dance are never too far away. On stage, they like performing in unusual venues (marquees, geodes, old chapels, large theatres) in order to embrace and immerse the audience in their universe. Their new single Goodbye deals with the dead and the living. How do we live together? How do we say goodbye? What is left? And what if the best way to move on was to dance? It’s an electro-pop dive into the night of our thoughts.”
Flying Penguin | State On Fire
HOME BASE: Germany.
GENRE: Pop-Punk.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Our planet lives — and suffers. We treated it carelessly far too many times and didn’t appreciate its goodwill, but enough is enough! Time is changing and the Earth is striking back. This story is told in the Flying Penguin’s State On Fire. Don’t be fooled by the pop-punk melodies that these four guys from Munich deliver with full energy. The content is very important for them, the issue is serious — they call out for environmental protection in this preview of their socially critical album.”
Kuma Zeke | Hanataba
HOME BASE: Switzerland.
GENRE: Rap.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Kuma Zeke is a young Congolese artist born in Switzerland. He says: “Music, we have it in our blood. Myself a musician since childhood behind a drums, I have the musical ear to be able to create songs and melodies. Hanataba is a song that features lots of artists who come from Switzerland. My goal in this piece was to highlight several artists who have just started and who want to bring something more to this industry.”
O’XL | Freaky Mood
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “DJ, composer and remixer O’XL is originally from France but settled in Quebec in 2015. In his travels, he had the chance to remix several artists internationals, including Janet Jackson. In 2015 and 2016 he released his first two EPs.”
Mazzola | Greedo Island
HOME BASE: France / Italy / Switzerland.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I love music so hard. Here’s my home-made track.”
Bruno Bongarçon | Spring At Home
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Folk.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Bruno Bongarçon, guitarist and composer, has spent a lot of time and years traveling with the greatest artists of French song. At the same time, his career as a studio musician has taken him to play on more than 200 albums, and to record with wonderful musicians such as Pino Palladino, André Ceccarelli and various actors of the jazz and pop scene. current. In 2018 he released an album, Lonely Rooms, with 10 solo guitar pieces composed in hotel rooms all over the world. Discover Spring at Home, an introspective reflection of a musician who has found himself cut off from his musical world since March.”
Poty | Different
HOME BASE: Italy.
GENRE: Indie-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Poty is an Italian-french Independent artist and producer in Cuneo, Italy. The message of Different: “We are the same because each of us suffers, strives for something and dreams. Let’s grow closer together instead of drifting away as often happens in the modern world.”
Happy Clinic | Chickity Black
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Indie-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Singer and songwriter Stefan Sullivan has given over 300 performances as a lounge pianist/vocalist in the UK, USA and Thailand, including a two-year stint at the Oxford hot spot Freud. Bassist and percussionist Claus Buehler is tour sound designer for the cult U.K. band The Tiger Lillies, and a veteran drummer on the Berlin scene. This is a feel-good rocksteady/reggae lite with vintage dancehall vibe. Piano-driven with catchy bass groove and a very hooky chorus.”
EXCLUSIVE: Jack Rayne | Wrecking Myself
HOME BASE: Australia.
GENRE: Folk.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “With shades of yesteryear and passion only a six-foot-tall ginger can possess, storyteller Jack Rayne depicts the mountainous highs and heartbreaking lows of the day to day in the most beautiful of ways. Boasting one of the most captivating voices on the Australian east coast, the Sydney-sider has graced audiences nation wide with his authentically raw live show. Rayne combines the traditional rustic nature of roots/Americana music with a unique vocal flair, creating a sound that is all his own. Rayne bares all in his single Wrecking Myself. It shares the story of his own self-destruction. Through melodic songwriting and flowing pedal steel, Jack is able to tell his story differently to most in an elegant yet heartbreaking way. A combination of darkness and a shot of whiskey birthed Jack’s best work yet. It’s a sound well beyond his years, for the first time taking even himself by surprise with the gritty yet smooth emotive vocal tone.”
Ben Phipps | On My Own
HOME BASE: Sweden.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The song is about trying to break free from the ideals that others set for us. Of the feeling of never living up to that ideal; not being good enough. And finding your way — on your own.”
Abi Mia | Checking In
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Abi Mia is a singer-songwriter from London. Taking influence from powerful & soulful female artists such as Alicia Keys, Demi Lovato and Kelly Clarkson, Mia has developed her unique songwriting and performance style. She writes her original songs from the heart, inspired by her experiences and things happening in the world. She also finds it essential to get that emotion across in her performance so she can connect with the audience, something that is reflected in her lyrics. Her aim is to uplift, empower and move people through her musicChecking In is a pop track inspired by the almost-daily Zoom chats she has been enjoying with her 93-year-old grandpa over the past year, something which has become more poignant as time goes on.”
Greg Dallas | Forget
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Ambient.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I created this track using just layered electric guitar and effects. My goal was to make something that felt like a dream, or a memory that you can’t quite recall. This is the final track on my EP which I am releasing independently on May 1. The EP blends ambient, folk, and jazz.”
