Mamzel Sheena wants to connect, Alan Vera is ready to party, Mort Rose catch some rays, Matt Killer prefers the darkness — and they’re not the only artists making your day with the latest submissions from Groover, a platform that connects artists with critics like me for a small fee. You can (and should) follow me on Spotify HERE, check out my Top 150 playlist HERE, or 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, go HERE. But first, spend some quality time with these quality tracks:
Mamzel Sheena | Fanm
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: World / Rap.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Mamzel Sheena is energy! A dancer and choreographer, she also likes to make words dance in rhythm. Her “slam-rap” prose spreads the messages of her heart. Sheena is inspired by Caribbean sounds and rhythms from her childhood that she fuses with hip-hop energy. With Fanm, she celebrates the quiet and creative force of the feminine energy that slumbers in every woman and man on this planet. It is up to us to fully free our feminine power! Says Sheena: “The feminine energy pushes us to introspection … Vulnerable and sensitive, we take the time to listen to our inner voice to follow our intuitions. Love, benevolence, faith, patience, temperance and resilience give us the courage and strength to seek the balance between our shadows and lights.”
Alan Vera | On Va Célébrer
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Latin Pop.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Alan Vera is a Cuban singer-songwriter who resides in Montreal. He started his musical career at the University of Havana, but has now expanded his international reach. He performs in English, Spanish and French and shakes up urban, tropical and pop music with his ingenious rhythms. He was recently nominated for the Latin Awards Canada as Best Male Vocalist of the Year and his song Cuando Tú No Estás was nominated for Best Tropical Song of the Year.”
Mort Rose | On Part Au Soleil
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Psychedelic-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Mort Rose are a rock band founded in 2016 in Montreal. With a lifelong passion for psychedelic rock, they emulate the sounds of the late ’60s in an honest, personal and modern way to deliver music with a timeless aesthetic. On Part Au Soleil is a single from their new album Au Revoir Cowboys, out Sept. 10! The track is a no-nonsense rock song with garage and psychedelic overtones. Filled with soaring guitar solos, striking organs and heavy riffage, this song impresses with its loose structure, esoteric lyrics and dreamy vocal harmonies.”
Matt Killer | Night (Edit)
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Coming from the tropical volcanic island of Reunion but residing in France since 2013, I am a mix of the world on my own. I have been passionate about music since childhood. Today I show you my universe of tropical sounds and electronic music.”
Blind Season | Empty Summer
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Indie-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Rock ’n’ Roll and turbulent relationships go hand in hand. The origins of Blind Season are no different. Beginning with a rag-tag group, the band went through five incarnations until founding guitarist Shane Sigro was faced with the ultimate decision between succumbing to normalcy or proving the previous members wrong. Choosing the latter, Sigro doubled down by taking vocal lessons and penning the new music that would breathe life into Blind Season. Their upcoming album is an ode to loneliness and toxicity that feels as if it were ripped from Billy Corgan’s diary and featured in a film by Tim Burton. This song is part of a trilogy of songs that were all written during a terrible week in April 2019. I had gotten out of a very toxic relationship and this song was written very quickly while very intoxicated. With summer around the corner and feeling completely lost and empty, the title felt appropriate.”
Rockardìa | Butta Giù Quel Rum
HOME BASE: Italy.
GENRE: Hard Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “We are Rockardìa, an Italian band that sings in Italian. We started to play together in 2011, released an album in 2017 called Novità Passate, and in the last two years we started to experiment to find our right dimension and sound. You can listen the result in Buttà Giù Quel Rum. Thank you and headbanging!”
Nav’s Hook | Drivin’ Me Crazy
HOME BASE: Indie.
GENRE: Roots-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “While I started Nav’s Hook very recently, I have been doing music for over 20 years, working through all the complications that come with being a singer-songwriter. While I’m Indian, I grew up in Cyprus, spent a couple of years in Hungary, and a good chunk of time in the U.S. — mostly in New York City, where I worked as sound engineer. Cyprus was the beginning of my musical experience; as an teen I regularly tuned into the British Forces Broadcasting Service, where anything and everything “British Rock” was played. Later time spent in America only furthered my passion for the kind of music I always wanted to make. While my music has its roots in alternative, my influences range from The Beatles to Joe Cocker to pop-rock and post-punk. Drivin’ Me Crazy is a lighthearted jam with roots in rhythm and blues, country, and Cajun styles — set against a classic romance tale of a not-so-rich older soul and a wealthy young rebel.”
Wildy | Jealous
HOME BASE: Norway.
GENRE: Reggaeton.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Wildy is a 26-year-old Norwegian artist. She describes her songs as her diary, and a way for her to express everyday emotions through simple, yet profound lyrics accompanied by catchy, self-produced melodies. In early 2020, she picked up her home studio and quickly became a promising, self-taught producer. 2021 is also set to be an exciting year for Wildy, having bagged a semi-final place in the Pop/Top 40 category of the International Songwriter Competition with her release Never Run Out Of Love.”
Kevin Heartbeats | Soothed
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: R&B/Soul
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Influenced and inspired by the bedroom pop and DIY scene, musician and producer Kevin Heartbeats makes sentimental and introspective music, the kind you listen to and make at night in your room. Produced with his collaborator Schumi1 and mastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Shawn Hatfield (Machinedrum, Rochelle Jordan), Soothed has a dreamlike experimental groove that should definitely speak to (all brokenhearted) listeners.”
Martin Lügt | .Noi.
HOME BASE: Italy.
GENRE: New-Classical / Ambient.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The lonesome lockdown that has distorted our lives and led Martin Lügt to the exploration and analysis of the deepest parts of the inner self, creating the need to express them through music and visual art. Lügt’s sound expands the limits and hypnotizes while on a daring search within experimentation and intimacy. His style has its roots in the manipulation of the sound through glitches and other audio-design techniques, without forgetting about the harmonic richness and melodic variety. His EP Distanti attempts to describe the concept of distance in different declinations, from interpersonal to deeper and more personal meanings such as the distance we create with parts of us.”
New Red Lines | Stay In My Veins
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electro-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “New Red Lines are an electro-rock band formed in France in 2016 by brothers Nicolas (vocals, piano, guitar, synths) and Bastien (drums, pads). They released a first demo in 2019, experimenting with different dosages of vocals, piano, drums and electro. In 2020, Nicolas started a long term trip abroad and laid the foundation of their first EP Late Epiphany. Influenced by this particular year, lived mainly in New Zealand, the lyrics evoke the future we will have to live according to our actions as individuals and as societies. They address the different aspects of human nature, oscillating between hope and resignation. The duo reunited at the end of the year and finished writing the seven songs on the EP, refining the recipe used for the first demo.”
Samuel Felix | Câlin
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Neo-Classical.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Câlin is the latest release by the Anglo/French neoclassical composer Samuel Félix. Originally composed for members of his family to play as a distraction therapy during the pandemic, Câlin (French for hug) is the final single from this campaign. Félix continues to collaborate with the award-winning Illustrator Patrick Atkins on the artwork for his releases. Previously a mainstay of neo-classical playlists, Samuel has adapted his recording techniques to try and create the most initmate recordings possible.”
Papigang Knowledge | We Do Dat
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Rap.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: Papigang Knowledge let their music do the talking.
Cool Cat Funk | Cat’s Life
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Indie-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Southern Oregon band. Original music. Our latest single and a possible answer to the question: What is my cat thinking?”
Knife Ties | At The Bottom Of The Valley
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Post-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Postgaze from Illinois, Knife Ties are the creative rebirth of musician John Contreras. Drawing influence from post-rock, shoe gaze, Midwestern emo, slow core and more, John writes and produces all Knife Ties music to be unique and meaningful. At The Bottom Of A Valley is a bleak, lofi, slowcore song meant that serves as the centerpiece of Knife Ties’ Detached EP. Using a dusty acoustic guitar, combined with a reverb-laden electric lead, this piece is meant to capture the depressing numbness of being at the lowest point in your life, but with a way out.”
Bethany Sin | Little Fella
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Alt-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Bethany Sin is the creation of guitarist singer-songwriter Christian Starkey, who formed the band at the start of lockdown 2020 with Debbie Wildish on drums. Their songs are born of fools and heroes and unfortunately deaths. They are influenced by Neil Young, Nirvana, Kings of Leon, Jeff Buckley and Soundgarden. It’s beautiful music with a brutal tone and truth. Little Fella is a catchy, groovy grungy stomper.”
Bergi | Avalancha
HOME BASE: Spain.
GENRE: Neo-Classical.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I composed Avalancha while trying to get out of the most current neoclassical trend of creating sad, slow and soft background piano tracks. This one is different.”
DxBoY | Lit Again
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Rap.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Having been in lockdown for over a year and a half, this sound perfectly captures my feeling of finally being able to be free again. With that, I’m trying to get Lit Again and have the summer of my life.”
