Kevin Bronson on February 23rd, 2016

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“Don’t live to die, live to create,” Stephen Salisbury sings on “Ender,” the first single from L.A. trio Groves. It’s a sanguine sentiment for an equally bright song, whose title references the protagonist in Orson Scott Card’s 1985 science fiction novel. While not exactly doing battle with aliens, the song, with its warm synths, twinkling guitars and lush vocals, “is a call to arms and represents the rebirth of our music,” says bassist Reid Guidry, who, along with singer-guitarist Salisbury and drummer Will Smith formed Groves from the ashes of their previous band Barely Blind. The trio take their new name from their hometown in Texas, which they departed in 2011 in favor of L.A. Groves have been fostered by the artist development/management company MDDN (helmed by Benji and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte) and are finishing up work on their full-length debut. Oh, and that’s Joel Madden’s sweet ’67 Chevy in the Jacob Stark-directed video.

||| Watch: The video for “Ender”

||| Also: Stream the song here: