This Week's LITM Rock Picks Bring Back the Retro Blues with artists like Alex Lipinski, Rich Chambers, and more!

If you’re feeling nostalgic for the retro era with its moody tones and blooming blues, this week’s LITM indie rock picks is for you. With artists like Alex Lipinski, Rich Chambers, Lewis Knaggs, Mumbo, and Waking Dreams, you can harvest indie rock gems by the pocketful. Listen Now!

Alex Lipinski - Idiot Station 

Brought to you by the award-winning singer-songwriter and talented artist, Idiot Station is Alex Lipinski’s latest single. Led by gunning beats and fuzzy bass lines, the song is a seamless fusion of glam rock and shimmering blues; lined with a punk horizon. The soundscape invokes lofty highs and a rhythmic bliss that is reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen and early Green Day. Listening to the track is like experiencing the formation of sonic mass. With zooming basses taking on spatial dimensions, before being spontaneously transformed and reinvented by Alex’s retro vocal fabric, the listener is transported to the mercurial era of 70s blues and disco. 

Rich Chambers - I’m a Fool for Lovin’ You

Sustaining the retro frames of the previous artist, Rich Chambers softens it with his new single, I’m a Fool for Lovin’ You. A modern-day Elvis Presley type, he combines jewels of rock and rolls it in fabrics of soulful romanticism and melodic pop. It has an instant timelessness that is reinforced by the bright spangles of country guitar and his signature throaty vocals. Mounted on ringing beats, the song has an incredible dance rhythm that is intensified by claps, flamboyant accordion tangents, and energizing riff breaks. And of course, with a relatable tale overarching the track, it’s the kind of song that you simply cannot miss dancing to. 

Lewis Knaggs - Third Eye 

Lewis Knaggs’ raw blues and buoyant indie rock canvas follows next. The English singer-songwriter and musician employs music as a medium of self-discovery. This single, Third Eye, stipulates tragedy in the form of a tale. Strung with observational lyrics and thematic image frames, the song has a profound indie dimension you don’t commonly encounter. With resonant melodies anchored to spiraling beats, his lifting baritones carry the soundscape with affecting sentiment. Bridging deep emotion arcs with surreal blues and visceral vocal saucers, the track is a classic example of the artist’s creative sound design and soundscape architecture. 

Mumbo - Fringe Benefits 

London-based three-piece band, mUmbo was formed in 2021. Since then, the members have devoted themselves to finding the moments of sonic alignment among genres like folk, rock, indie, blues, and jazz. With Emma Semple’s sultry vocals dispersing across an atmosphere of glinting banjos, electric guitar, and moody viola melodies, this brand new single, Fringe Benefits has a mystical allure that grips you. Like its predecessors, the track forms from lilting pools of blue. The song is a commentary on the melancholy that we are all drenched in. It makes for an interesting perspective as the multi-textured canvas presents like a conversation about the theme. 

Waking Dreams - For You 

Concluding our list for this week is this power dream sequence by surreal pop-rock duo, Waking Dreams. After a three-year hiatus, the outfit has just released a 13-track album called Sliding Lines. This track, For You introduces the collection with cyclical riffs and whimsically awry vocal threads. Packed in with their signature 80s-inspired weaves, the song is like a mountain range, with dark valleys, winding blues, and exhilarating surreality. Juxtaposing strident guitar melodies with formless and effervescing vocals, the artists tailor an intricate duality that speaks to both their individualistic styles and their artistry as a unit. 

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