Break the Robot spring forward, Mercury And The Architects have plenty of pull, Mackenzie Leighton is in the office — and they’re just a few of the artists getting down to work 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. But first, on to today’s new business:
Break The Robot | Spring
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Break The Robot is an indie alt-rock band in Phoenix. Drawing from a range of influences from the ’60s to the ’90s, they’ve created a sound that is fresh while firmly rooted in the depths of your nostalgia. Break The Robot provide an intimate, exciting and memorable show, leaving you dancing and sharing in the experience you didn’t know you needed. Spring is the first single off their new record.”
https://youtu.be/gd7DCjbXnuA
Mercury & The Architects | Pull The Plug
HOME BASE: United States
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “We believe in telling the truth. We believe that music has the power to heal and change the world. We hope that our music inspires you to be authentic — instead of telling you what to be, how to be, what to wear, or think, or do. We intend to make music and share it with whomever will listen until our time on Earth is up. We will never stop, so please join us on this journey. It will go by fast. We want to inspire a revolution of good, of expression, of enlightenment. Let’s rewrite the rules. We are the new rock and roll.”
https://youtu.be/2MipuPPjfJU
Mackenzie Leighton | The Other American Girl In The Office
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “In her everyday life, Mackenzie Leighton works as a florist while composing sweet melodies and poetic lyrics. Originally from the United States, she arrived alone in Paris in 2017, electric guitar in hand. Her sensibility falls in line with the tradition of folk singers like Joni Mitchell, while remaining modern in the style of Phoebe Bridgers or Julia Jacklin. Mackenzie intimately reveals the reality of her expatriate life and pushes the boundaries of her own identity in Fleuriste, set for release summer. The Other American Girl In The Office tells the story of a young American girl who finds herself working in an office in Paris — a precise narration told by the sweet voice of Leighton, supported by a delicate electric guitar, swiftly distorted by drums which bring us back to the alt-rock songs of the early 2000s.”
Apophis | On Prendra De L’Avance Plus Tard
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Indie-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Like Apophis — who dies so that the light may triumph — mourning is at the origin of this new band from the Quebec City scene. Apophis present On Prendra De L’Avance Plus Tard as a promise — a promise that everything will be fine, that we will enjoy the luxury of time and that it will be sunny. Maybe we can even roll down the windows. We’re telling you: Nothing sounds more like summer than this song.”
The Resolute | Leopard
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Alt-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “We live to create. This is our fourth single in our journey to release a song each month for the next two years. We would love for you to join us. We are taking a DIY approach to our art by controlling all aspects from the writing, producing, recording and mixing of our music to the creation of our own videos.”
Imparfait | Réveille Moi Plus Tard
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Indie-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Imparfait deliver an explosive sound that shatters any labels you want to stick to it — it has the groove of rap, the brawl of metal, the escape from electro and the voluptuousness of pop. Prisca’s register knows no bounds: singing, rap, screaming. Bruno’s nervous and saturated bass merges with Leo’s drums which can switch in an instant from electronic tones to a surge of cymbals. Loïc’s fuzzy and dirty guitar sometimes gives way to glitchy sounds and other controlled cosmic effects.”
Daniele Nick | Rocker Dalla Nascita
HOME BASE: Italy.
GENRE: Electro-Rock.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Daniele Nick began his studies in music by studying drums and guitar. He has recorded a series of studio records, both as an official band member and as a session player. Introspection is basis of his lyrics. He loves to call himself a crazy artist because of his recklessness and willingness to embrace the madness of creation.”
Gnino & Shreez | Salsa
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Rap.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Gnino comes from a musical family — his father, RJ Boy, was a rapper. Shawn Volcy, better known as Shreez, has carved out an important place for himself in the rap ecosystem of Quebec. On a production by the young Kheir, Gnino lets his soul go wild and Shreez shows here that he knows how to adapt.”
Florian Brunner | Waiting For The Sun
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Florian Brunner is a composer of electronic music which explores the sounds and melodies. This single describes a strange, dark and fantastic world. It is cinematic music in the style of Junkie XL and Hans Zimmer. He says: “I wanted to create a sci-fi soundtrack, evoke a more disturbing world and an epic story. This single mixes classical music sounds, voices and sounds that are more electro and brutal. Orchestral and electronic music are mixed, in a lyrical and ferocious whole. The violins and the brass are carried away, in an aggressive race, in a mythological and dark moment where the sun will finally emerge, with intensity. This single is also an evocation of our time: a threatened planet, a global health crisis, wars and conflicts. Monsters threaten life and living beings wait for the sun to return, with a better world.”
Pierre Laurendeau | Our Wildest Dreams
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Pierre Laurendeau is an artist crafting distinctly unique soundscapes, the sort that fall around you like a delicate storm of colour and excitement. It’s incredibly satisfying electronic music, gorgeously smooth, but it’s also unpredictable, and that adds character — an element of humanity and realness. Laurendeau is a fascinating producer; with every release he puts forth, there’s a known air of professionalism interwoven among his experimentally creative drive.”
Panaviscope | Take Your Chance
HOME BASE: Switzerland.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Panaviscope, the one-man band formed by Alex, comes back with a new single. Take Your Chance is a light, dancing song that evokes summertime and parties. In this track, Panaviscope revisits the atmosphere of the French touch scene of the mid-1990s, with a bassline that pays tribute to the classics of the genre. The lyrics conjure up beach atmospheres and early mornings rocked by the sound of waves under the rising sun.”
Empty7 | Sueur
HOME BASE: Switzerland.
GENRE: Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “For the moment, everything is self-produced by me, and as I am starting to feel the weight of the investments that I make, it becomes more and more complex.”
Meeko | Ambition
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Rap.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Meeko is the stage name of Yves Faucher, a young rapper from Montreal. In 2019, he released his first EP Irréversible, followed by the album Instinct in 2020. He just announced the release of his second album Instinct 2.0, which is clearly the continuation of the first, scheduled for 2021. Meeko is an artist who has charisma, flow that is authentic and has a unique style of music. Influenced by great rappers like Booba, Lefa, Dosseh and Vald, Meeko also aims to influence and inspire others on his scale through his music.”
Inki | Who Wouldn’t Desire Her?
HOME BASE: Iceland.
GENRE: Neo-Classical.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Inki (Ingibjörg Friðriksdóttir) is an Icelandic sound artist/composer who merges visual elements with music. This project is called Quite the Situation and is a three-fold project: Album release, book work & installation premiered at Iceland’s Reykjavik Arts Festival. It is a three-part work where a book becomes a piece of music and a piece of music becomes a wordless conversation. Different media play together and form an experience across the senses, which is at once holistic and fragmentary, humorous but thought-provoking. The foundation for this piece are sentences taken from Icelandic newspapers written during WWII about Icelandic women forming relationships with U.S. and U.K. soldiers, but the Allies had occupied the island. The work, however, does not deal with the past. Rather, it is a conversation about the present with the language of the past. These sentences inspired the composition process, recording process, and the names of the tracks are also sentences from these articles.”
Alannah Chapman | Waiting
HOME BASE: Australia.
GENRE: Jazz-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Young Alannah Chapman may have been known to occasionally play to the cows in her native Albany (South coast of Western Australia), but it didn’t take long for her raw talent to be recognised by her human peers. Chapman now performs on sax with a variety of bands and is often gracing the stage of local festivals. Waiting is her debut single — an adventure she describes as both exciting and scary. Flirting with neo-soul, new jazz, indie and a hint of R&B, Chapman’s musical landscape is rich, with a softness and edge influenced by the sounds of Sade, Malia or Erikah Badu. Written in 2020, at the heart of the pandemic, Waiting is about that feeling we all experience of waiting for someone or something to happen, and how we are all guilty of doing this. Playing with both melancholy and a sense of hope, the track is a timely reminder that we need to stop desperately, because, as we are on hold, life and all its gifts go on and we can’t afford to miss out.”
Kurtis Adamus | Testing Your Luck
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Kurtis Adamus’s musical trajectory started off at a young age. After years of studying Royal Conservatory repertoire on piano, he jumped into learning more contemporary/modern music, influenced by piano singer-songwriters like Elton John, Billy Joel and Chris Martin. Fans of emotionally-charged pop should look no further than the moody jam Testing Your Luck, the newest single from the Ottawa artist. Born in his parent’s garage during the dead of winter, Testing Your Luck features a light electronic keyboard, nostalgic synth lead, a simple drum machine beat, and Adamus’ heart-wrenching lyrics. “I’m going for a joyful sadness sound,” he says. Adamus sings like a guy with a wealth of knowledge about the many missteps of life — and he’s only in his mid-20s.”
Cole Merkosky | Say Yes
HOME BASE: Canda.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Despite the fact that he is not married yet, Edmonton pop-rock singer-songwriter Cole Merkosky has written the perfect proposal song with his latest single Say Yes! “There’s something so joyful about agreeing to spend the rest of your life with someone, and I really think this song captures that,” Cole says. Beginning with a bright organ and guitar strum, Say Yes! sounds like the ending to an over-the-top musical about a couple’s journey into marriage — think of a more rock ’n’ roll Mamma Mia with a bit of Tom Cochrane’s Life Is A Highway. Cole’s powerful voice guides the song, somewhat reminiscent in tone and style to Pat Monahan of Train. Say Yes! is the third track of a four-song EP, Moments Of A Lifetime, dropping this July. Cole says: “The album is a short but deep dive into how relationships grow and change, from the day you meet someone to the rest of your lives together.”
Artminaty | Artminaty
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Hip-Hop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I’m Naty Rizla, one of the two lead singers of the band Artminaty. With our beatmaker H!ccup, we cooked our first album. At the crossroads between Hip Hop & Dancehall, we found a way to express ourselves, passing through R&B and Synthwave vibes with a bit of a Vapor touch.”
Kenji Tramontano | Cherry
HOME BASE: Italy.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Pianist, producer, beatmaker, synth player, sound designer and jazz pianist.”
Jaj & The Family Hope | Soul Family
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Jazz-Pop.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Jaj and The Family Hope just released their first EP Soul Family, filled with emotions and rich colors that make us travel for five tracks through its musical universe. It draws naturally from their origins to make us dance to rhythms with Afro-Caribbean accents that warm the body, and also soothes the heart with overwhelming melodies. Soul Family is like an invitation to introspection. It infuses us with new and liberating energy. It is a moment of sharing, a carnival of feelings, as simple and lively as music should be.”
Benjamin Naud | Street Scene
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Jazz.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The music of Benjamin Naud is like him, made of contrasts, mastery and curiosity. It follows a path of its own, which every encounter is like a crossroads. In other words, each musician comes to take their place with delicacy, considering that the music is made of the capture of ephemeral moments and unique dialogue. The group can embrasse many esthetic, sounds, always keeping its overall cohesion.”
Timothy J | Olive (Don’t Lose Faith)
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Originally from Northern Alberta, Tim Cambridge started the Timothy J project in Calgary in 2018 with his long-time guitarist and producer Daron Schofield. Together they found a band with Jaret Hunchak on drums and Jamie Warren on bass. The band are ready to release their debut album Better Late in winter. Cambridge wrote Olive (Don’t Lose Faith) after finding an old cassette tape his grandfather left him. The tape had his grandfather talking about the experiences he felt after losing his wife to cancer. Though it was a dark time, he found strength and faith. We could all use a little faith right now.”
The Freight | Fly On
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The Freight are an upbeat fusion of rock ’n’ roll, blues rock, soul and jam music, mixed with a contemporary edge. Fly On is their third single of 2021. It’s an ambitious, thematic anti-ballad that clearly shows The Freight are much more than just rock ’n’ rollers. Their versatility and growth are on full display with this song. Fly On is a spacious, ambient journey of vocal melody, string arrangements, percussion elements and big harmonies. All the players have shining moments in the song and you can hear the band spreading their wings throughout.”
Marian Crole | La Chanson Sans Nom / The Nameless Song
HOME BASE: Switzerland.
GENRE: Classical Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Marian Crole is an Anglo-Uruguayan-Swiss singer-songwriter inspired by the beauty of life, nature and human beings. She describes herself as a nomad in the quest for connection. Her music blends the differences of her multicultural origins and invites us to feel presence and intuition. Inspired by classic songs of the ’60s, interwoven with modern funk influences, Crole engenders a refreshing kind of soul. If Crole’s music were a drink it would be a daiquiri cocktail with a taste of Aretha Franklin’s power, smoothed by some jazzy delicate touches in the style of Norah Jones. Crole’s lyrics invoke the intensity of precious and simple moments in life. Each concert offers an experience for transformation and celebration. What fans love about Marian Crole’s music: A jazzy elegance, a simplicity that is only apparent, and a poetry magnified by a wide and dense voice. It’s a feeling of a cocoon of light — a light of hope and understanding.”
