Onur loses his mind, Knight Blood shares your feels, Sopycal savours a summer romance, Smorphya mixes it up with Alan Parsons 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) 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, take it easy with these tunes:
Onur | Beyinler Sakat (Brain Dead)
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: R&B-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Onur is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter and producer. Hailing from London, Onur fuses British R&B with Turkish Alt-Pop. He plays with broken beats, soulful chords and guitar fuzz, organically turning late-night jams into a truthful depiction of his dreams and reality. Combining yesterday’s dusty drums and Turkish beats with tomorrow’s sounds and samples, the artist proposes separate inklings of himself, perfectly balancing all of his influences in his songs.”
Knight Blood | What You Feeling
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Rap.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “My name is Kévin Ball. I am a singer, author and composer from Paris region who goes by the name Knight Blood. My new album Born In Shadow was just released. This is a very personal album about my sometimes-difficult experience. It recounts my disappointments and defeat as much as my hopes. What You Feeling which talks about my problems with jobs, their general impact on my daily life and my hopes for a better future. I have very heterogeneous influences — everything from Hans Zimmer to classic metal like Iron Maiden and Dio to new acts like In flames, Fever 333 or Mushroomhead. Music doesn’t just inspire me, it nourishes me. This work is a way to show that music is an integral part of my being. I compose and record alone in my little studio, my bubble where I transcend myself and where catharsis happens.”
Sopycal | Été
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Hip-Hop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Sopycal started rapping in secret, admiring her childhood friends who formed a group in the university of performing arts. Inspired by MC Solaar and others, she plays with words and conventions. Été is an ephemeral and powerful summer romance, of a first love between two young women who discover each other. Carried by metaphors in images, their sensual love crosses the wild summer, desirable and burning but what will remain at the end? The memories of the moments caught on camera. Été comes from a need for more representation of love between women.”
Smorphya | Mammagamma (Remix)
HOME BASE: Italy.
GENRE: Elecronica.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Francesco Morosini, aka Smorphya, started out as a DJ playing various electronic styles across some of Europe’s biggest venues. A natural progression into music production followed, and he ended up producing more than 130 singles in the ’90s under various guises, while remixing the likes of Emmanuel Top, Rubicon and Grandmaster Flash. After many years away from the scene, he has returned with a fresh new sound and a desire to express himself through his music. To inaugurate his new label with Fabrizio Maras (Aetherium), he has put a modern spin on a historical piece by Alan Parson Project.”
Clay & Friends | Que Onda
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Funk-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Clay and Friends offer a punchy blend of hip-hop, soul and funk. Known for their energetic concerts, Clay and Friends have thrilled more than 1,300 Canadian and European crowds since 2015. In 2017, the group released their first album Conformopolis and in 2019 they released the English EP La Musica Popular De Verdun. They released their second French-language opus Grouillades in early 2020. Later that year, they were named Révélation Radio-Canada Chanson 2020-2021 and won Pop EP of the Year at the Gala Alternatif de la Musique Indépendante du Québec. The quintet are currently working on the next chapter of La Musica Popular.”
DAWN The Duet | Heading For A New Life
HOME BASE: Belgium.
GENRE: Roots.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Céline and Jordan met in 2015 and today form a duo, both in life and on the stage. They write songs with heady melodies and sentimental lyrics, sharing personal experiences that many people can identify with. Their music mixes deeply felt emotions with pop rock sounds and country accents. Their debut single Heading For A New Life draws you in with its enthusiasm and deals with the artists’ desire to move forward and make a new start. This subject is particularly current and delivers a positive and optimistic message, through the need to redefine our conceptions of happiness and our values, after the global crisis experienced in 2020-2021.”
Damola Davis | Godzillian Dance
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Afro-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Following the successful release of his sophomore EP The True Godzilla, fast-rising U.K. artists Damola Davis offers his followup single Godzillian Dance. Exploiting the familiar rich sounds of Amapiano, Davis takes a humorous approach in acknowledging African women and their love for dance and enjoyment, with his intentions evident from the first line of the catchy chorus. Taking a dive into his cultural heritage, Godzillian Dance was crafted in collaboration with producer Vikwyn Beats, mixed and mastered by ArtstillBeats. “Funny enough, Godzillian Dance was created unintentionally on my last trip to Nigeria,” Davis said. “I was in the studio with ArtstillBeats adding some finishing touches to my EP when Vikwyn Beats sent the beat to me on WhatsApp. As soon as we heard it, everyone went crazy. That’s when I knew this was going to be epic. When I was writing this song, I wanted to create a Godzillian anthem that is playful yet a dance hit, as a followup song to my EP. When I started the year, I showed my fans my cheeky side and with Godzillian Dance, I want to continue that streak.”
Quatuor Esca | Fragments-1. Variations
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Neo-Classical.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Quatuor Esca have accompanied an impressive catalog of artists (Half Moon Run, Bruno Pelletier, Elliott Maginot) both on stage and in the studio. Now the Quebec quartet present their own repertoire. During the year, more compositions and videos will follow in order to bring these great musician-performers out of the shadows. Here is the first movement of the work Fragments, composed by François Vallières for Quatuor Esca.”
Anke Scheer | Diamonds In A Blue Eyed Sky
HOME BASE: Germany.
GENRE: Soul-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “For me, music is an emotion-booster. A language everyone can speak and understand. The sound of a melody can touch us in a way even words can’t and tell us its own story.” For musician Anke Scheer of Hamburg, it’s all about that: Emotions. That is why she won’t play only one musical genre. She puts elements of jazz, soul, blues and country into her groovy pop sound. “Good Music comes straight from the heart,” she says. “That is why you will only find sounds and words in my songs that I really, really love. Which genre they represent doesn’t matter for me. In this way, a unique sound is created, quite intuitively, without calculation or strategy. I’m in love with music. And I think that’s how it sounds.”
Shifty | Flag
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electro-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “My name is Shifty. I am a young singer-songwriter from France. I play and produce different styles of music: Folk music, indie pop, lo-fi and urban pop. My sixth single Flag is an electro-pop song. This track has an epic vibe, catchy vocal melodies, an ambient beat, and a rising energy brought by the violin. Flag is about a fight, someone who goes to war. A war against his enemies or against himself — you can interpret the song as you want. This song motivates and brings hope in these uncertain times that we all live. I give all the emotions I have, in my songs and that’s what I want to share.”
Patrick William | Nostalgia
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Patrick William (real name Patrick Auger) is a versatile singer, songwriter and guitar player. He has been performing pop-rock standards all over the world since the 1990s. In 2021, Patrick will launch his first albums of original songs, including pop-rock, reggae, Brazilian rhythms with different tones of electric guitar and piano, as well as inspired vocal harmonies. There will be two albums of 12 songs — one in French and one in English, both realized by Nicko Ouellet, drummer and sound engineer.”
Zana | You
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Soul.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I make music for me and if you like it, so much the better. You, my third single, is a continuation of the message I want to send to the public. I am totally independent. I create my original music from the heart.”
Glassik | SLTW
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “All I have to say right now is in this track, so just listen — the drops are interesting, and the climax is really happening in the end!”
Crawford Mack | Listen With Your Eyes
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Indie-Folk.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Crawford Mack’ released his debut album Bread & Circuses in 2020. He has been releasing singles every six weeks throughout 2021. Mack grew up in Glasgow, eventually studying jazz at The Guildhall School in London. Mack has played with a range of musicians on varied projects, from jazz through rock to electronic, classical and folk music, experiences which distilled into his own indie/alternative sound.”
Around Us Only Air | The Last Atomic Number
HOME BASE: Bugaria.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “As the flickering forms transform through frantic and repetitive practice, the viewer is left with a testimony of the limits of our condition.”
Strange Redux | Trauma (ft. GoodGasRuss)
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Rap.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “English / French producer Strange Redux and Atlanta rapper GoodGasRuss met online through their mutual admiration of MF Doom. Despite the large geographical difference and an age gap of 15 years, they found they had very many things in common, including a real love of Nas, The Beatles and old soul records. “Bizarrely, we both support Manchester United & Atlanta Braves — it was as if the stars aligned. We find working together so easy and have a real good time. This is the first track we collaborated on. It’s built on a soulful guitar riff with some solid 808s and hip-hop beats.” GoodGasRuss resonates as he lyrically cuts through nighttime imagery of modern life in downtown Atlanta. All instruments were performed and programmed by Strange Redux, who spent 15 years on the road as a session musician for boy bands, musicals and a jazz big band.”
Mocy | Chute Libre
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Hip-Hop.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “A singer-songwriter and sound technician since his teenage years, rapper Olivier Robitaille (aka Mocy) introduced himself to the general public in 2008 with the album Overtime, followed up in 2012 with Part D’Ombre, both self-produced in his own studio. In 2021, Mocy finally makes a comeback behind the microphone and presents himself in a new way with a third solo album Souffrir En Silence, navigating through modern and colorful sounds, and mixing the hip-hop of yesteryear with the Pop of today while putting forward some heartfelt raps with very personal lyrics. Chute Libre (Free Fall) is the last single before the release of his album on Oct. 15. He says: “The song Chute Libre reflects the moment you fall into the void in search of solutions. In this retrospective song, I seek to understand what I might have done wrong in the past in order to grow and improve for the future.”
