Saint Chaos are in need, Imparfait are all about rituals, Mimi Danger touch that dial, Horhound are filled with the holy spirit 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 200 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, meet your new favourite songs:
Saint Chaos | Need Somebody
HOME BASE: Germany.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Berlin duo Saint Chaos are singer Nils Brunkhorst and producer Phil Sunday. Formed in 2018, Saint Chaos make electronic-based alt-rock and grunge-influenced pop. After the release of their debut album Seeing Red in 2021, the duo are back with Need Somebody, a song that aims to motivate, empower and connect people in a rough time. Probably everyone feels a little bit better knowing there’s somebody who’s got their back.”
Imparfait | Rituel
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Metal.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Every time you cross their way, Imparfeit impose an explosive sound that shatters any labels you want to stick on it. Riffs and screams from beyond the grave on top of an offbeat flow — this is the recipe for Rituel, a powerful and cathartic metal track. The forced introspection due to consecutive lockdowns led to a shamanist dialogue between Prisca and her alter-ego, who barely endures the social rituals we are now used to. Rituel is the fourth single from Imparfait‘s debut album.”
Mimi Danger | Midnight Call
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: R&B / Soul.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Neo-Soul is how the four members of Mimi Danger describe their music. They listen to Hiatus Kaiyote, Soft Hair, Men I Trust and Anderson .Paak. They admire the elegance of Tellier, the gentleness of Lianne la Havas or even the ardor of Cerrone. They mix the organic and chemical sounds of soul, surf-rock and often electronica.”
Horehound | Godful
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Metal.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Horehound became a Pittsburgh favourite soon after forming in early 2015. Within a year of forming, they released their self-titled debut album, inspired by COC, Melvins, Pallbearer, YOB, and of course Black Sabbath. The overall sound is slow, melodic, heavy and sludgy, with grinding guitars, haze-laden bass, bruising drums and demanding vocals. Horehound released their second LP Holocene in 2018 and the two-song EP Weight in 2019. They just released their third full-length Collapse, produced by Sid Riggs (Iommi, Saliva, Seether, Alice Cooper) to mastered by Tony Reed (Gojira, Electric Wizard, Cough). Collapse is heavy, inspired by the times, and the most articulate material the band has presented. In a world where you can choose heavy, tension-releasing music fueled by anger and filled with hope, why choose anything else to put on your playlist, throw in your CD player, or on your turntable?”
Dead Cassette | Forever Kind Of Love
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Metal.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Dead Cassette are a metalcore band from northeast Ohio. They consist of lead vocalist Justin Karallus, rhythm guitarist and vocalist Corbin Wandling, lead guitarist Arthur Lawrence, bassist Joe Hoover and drummer Kollin Manuel. So far, they have released the album Revive, which features the singles Revive, Through Hell and Neverending. Forever Kind Of Love is the final track on the album.”
Vincent Hélou | Bonjour Tristesse
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Vincent Hélou wrote his first song at the age of 16, as part of a theater internship. His lyrics are imbued with a sweet but nevertheless acidic melancholy, in which emotions and feelings crystallize, detailing each sigh, each disappointed hope. He is inspired by artists such as Etienne Daho, Juliette Armanet, Alain Chamfort and Mylène Farmer, along with A-Ha and Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark. Bonjour Tristesse is his second single.”
Diedrick | Better
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: R&B / Soul.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Diedrick is the modern sound of British R&B. With deep, soft, relaxing vocals, Diedrick tells stories about life’s most important lessons — love, loss, faith, desire and determination. The singer-songwriter tells a range of stories, building upon an endless coming-of-age tale that is not only relatable but genuine. Born Hakeem Diedrick, he was raised in Derby and developed a connection to the classic sounds of R&B and soul, taking a liking to artists like Usher, Chris Brown, Mariah Carey and Jojo. He makes his debut with Better, which was written and produced by J Warner (Stormzy, Snoh Aalegra). Better follows a young man who allows his insecurities to eat away at a steadily declining relationship in which he converses and confesses his inner thoughts and feelings with himself as a result of his own infidelity.”
Melrøse | Sexfriend
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Melrøse is the intimate project of two lovers — Anthony Bacou and Anne-Camille — who decided, one evening in June, to put their intimacy into music from their hotel room on L.A.’s Melrose Avenue. Anthony writes lyrics that his muse whispers in our ears. Their first EP includes the very sensual Sexfriend.”
Quatuor Esca | Canopée
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Neo-Classical.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Le Quatuor Esca have accompanied an impressive catalog of artists (Half Moon Run, Bruno Pelletier, Elliott Maginot) on stage and in the studio. Now they present their own repertoire.”
Jean-Nicolas Diatkine | Auf Dem Wasser Zu Singen
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Classical.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Some of Jean-Nicolas Diatkine’s friends have retired, but their magic is irreplaceable in his eyes and ears. He misses them just as he misses the songs of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. There is only one person who can compensate for this loss: Franz Liszt. Auf Dem Wasser Zu Singen by Schubert via Liszt is the first excerpt from his new album, with a video filmed in the beautiful hall of the Seine Musicale in Paris. Laurent Bessières, piano tuner at the Philharmonie de Paris, offered for this recording a 1916 Schiedmayer grand piano from Stuttgart, which he built in collaboration with Antoine Letessier-Salmon, director of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and Stephen Paulello, piano maker and inventor of the strings which bear his name. This instrument has almost never been used in concert.”
Karla | Thérapie
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Rap-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Karla is a songwriter, performer, dancer and producer from Bordeaux. She started learning violin at the age of four and also plays piano, guitar and bass. She joined the Bordeaux Conservatory at age 10 and began to compose her first songs at the age of 11. In 2017, she participated in her first singing competition and won the first prizes of her career.”
OMG Collective | Love Comes Once In Your Life
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Disco.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “OMG Collective are based in London. This is the first single from a selection of songs we plan to release over the next year. The music is eclectic; we do not limit ourselves to just one style. We want to share it globally.”
Gaumar | Follow
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: R&B / Soul
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Gaumar is the eldest of a sibling group who have crisscrossed France. She has built a very personal artistic universe that mixes pop, urban, and French chanson. Because time is precious, Gaumar speaks quickly. She moves fast, she sings fast. She lives everything in intensity. Follow is a tribute to all women; a mother, a sister, a friend, a better half — those who accompany you, who hold your hand, who make you understand that everything has a meaning. More than a simple tribute, it is a hymn to the heritage that all these women have left us, leave us and will leave us.”
Cynthia Leone | Movie Star
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: R&B / Soul.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Born in the sun of southern France, Cynthia Leone started singing in her youth, accompanying herself on piano and guitar. Influenced as much by hip-hop and rap as by French variety, Cynthia is developing a hybrid project in an urban and elegant universe. Drawing her inspiration from rappers (PNL, Maes, Hamza, Ninho) as well as French icons (Michel Berger, Sylvie Vartan, Daniel Balavoine), she is recording her first six-track EP. It’s the story of a young woman who dreams of being the new star of TV and cinema, who sees herself living like an artist, fleeing her reality only to be carried away by her own projections.”
Jana & Jorge | Run Away
HOME BASE: Peru.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “We are Jana & Jorge, a duo who put a lot of passion into our music.”
Hannah Featherstone | Empty Shell
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Indie-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Hannah Featherstone is a Franco-British singer-songwriter fuelled by the desire to shine a light on the unseen. Inviting us to step away from the hustle and bustle, she clothes the silence with the warmth of her voice and weaves a contemplative and chiseled electro pop sound. After the successes of her previous album Word Bound (2018), Hannah is back with a new project. Light and darkness lead the dance in her new album Ode To The Unseen, in which hermusic reverberates with haunting yet powerful vulnerability, giving way to an almost sacred mystery. Collaborating once again with producer Estienne Rylle, she recorded her new album in a beautiful crypt in the heart of Paris. The pared-back project centres around one question: What if our worth lay in the things that do not shine? With Ode To The Unseen, light and dark lead the dance carried by a chiseled groove echoing James Blake. Her melodies, underpinned by finely crafted piano parts reminiscent of Nils Frahm, are cloaked in gospel and baroque choral voices. While all around us people are fighting to be heard and seen, this album is an invitation to turn our gaze to the power of gentleness.”
Blake Morgan | Violent Delights
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Indie-music iconoclast Blake Morgan’s fifth album Violent Delights is out now. “I wanted to make a new record that would evoke a time in music when melodic rock ’n’ roll hooks weren’t a vice, when optimistic, triumphant love songs with bite poured out of the car stereo,” says Morgan. “If The Police’s album Ghost in the Machine and AC/DC’s Back In Black had a kid together, that kid would be my new record.” The album gets its title from a line in Romeo and Juliet (“These violent delights have violent ends”), when the young couple are warned by Friar Lawrence that their passions may cost them. This is Morgan’s first record primarily comprised of love songs, and a departure for the artist. “I’ve written breakup records before, but never a ‘love’ record. I’ve never even used the words ‘love’ or ‘heart’ in a song before. Perhaps it helped to be in love, finally, for me to use those words convincingly.” Morgan sings and performs all the instruments on the record except for drums, and he produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered the album at Valiant Recording, the Greenwich Village studio he’s owned and operated since 2002.”
Jay Max | Stickwitu
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: R&B / Soul.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Hailing from New York, Jay Max is an artist with a penchant for delivering infectious melodies and relatable narratives. Being an avid storyteller, Max is greatly influenced by real life, drawing inspiration for his music from personal experiences and hardships, allowing him to invoke strong emotions in people. With a unique vocal timbre that can be immediately recognized as his own, Max utilizes modern production integrated with organic instruments and layered with delicate melodies, creating an idiosyncratic sonic quality. Stickwitu is a cover of a Pussycat Dolls song. “A series of coincidences brought forth the birth of the track,” he says. “One day, I received an instrumental with the intentions of writing an original topline on it. That week, The Pussycat Dolls classic Stickwitu came on the radio and got stuck in my head and I came to find out that the timing and melody perfectly matched the instrumental. I decided to give new life to the track with my original interpretation!”
Michiko Del Rose | My Sun
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: R&B / Soul.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Michiko Del Rose is a young singer-songwriter who decided to follow her dreams and the light of the sun in this year of pandemic. Her music is captivating, her lyrics are honest. She writes about her life, her experience, her pain. It is a kind of therapy. “My Sun is a music for the beautiful days,” she says. “I speak about the love I have for my soulmate. I describe the love I have for the sun and the love I have for my sun. I have a very special bond with the sun and all the legends related to the sun.”
Godfree | In My Shooz (I Will Lay Them Out Over and Over)
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Dancehall.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Godfree is a Montreal music project. It features synthpop, reggae fusion, EDM and indie-pop. It also features many guest artists on vocals and co-producer RealMind. Behind the wheel is songwriter-producer-performer and DJ Godfree. In My Shooz is a funky dancehall-fusion song with an anthemic pop chorus.”
Frolin | After The Battle
HOME BASE: Norway.
GENRE: Ambient.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I live in the Southwestern part of Norway, surrounded by beautiful scenery like the sea, fjords, small islands, forests and mountains. This scenery is an inspiration for my music, and it is my hope that you can feel this when you listen! I have always been looking for inner peace to benefit both physical and emotional health and well-being. This inner search has led to my desire to be a part of the solution for others who also desire tranquility through music, meditation and mindfulness.”
Henry Aberson | Hang It Up
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: R&B / Soul
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Thank you for taking the time to listen to our work. We want to make music that feels good. Please join us on our musical journey.”
Deidøra | Rick Rølled
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Rap.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I am a struggling independent artist. I’ve grown tired of seeing artist with little to no talent blow up, leaving people with real skills to fade away.”
