These LITM Singer-Songwriter Picks, featuring Julie July Band, Tim Camrose, Gena Perala and more, highlight emotion and moods across the sonic spectrum!
1. Julie July Band – Gold Dust
Gold Dust is a moment of foreboding from Julie July Band’s fantastical album, Wonderland. With haunting vocals, a minimalistic piano arrangement, and an acoustic guitar that lingers in the background, giving the track the depth that makes it an intriguing listen, Gold Dust is melodic in a way that’d cement its place in a fantasy adventure soundtrack. A band that found success reinterpreting Sandy Denny’s work, they seem to have found their own identity in parallel – as gifted storytellers and masterful musicians. It’s restrained, allowing the vocals to shine as they take you to a faraway land, where more is to come.
2. Tim Camrose – Light in the Dark
A piano-forward anthem that highlights hope, Light in the Dark is heart-touching and measured. It’s compassionate, but not in a superficially sentimental way: it’s specific and grounded in a way that’s rare to find in songs that explore emotion the way this one does. Giving equal prominence to the instruments, backing choir, vocals, and narrative, the arrangement makes it easy for you to be immersed in the track wholly. Light in the Dark is elegant and poised – from a dazzling sax solo to a percussion that knows exactly when to ramp up and let down on the intensity, it’s surprising when you least expect it.
3. Gena Perala – Lucky One
“Never been a sad girl, turning into such a sad world / Never been the lucky one, count my blessings, zero to some.”
Gena Perala captures the push-and-pull between self-awareness and self-sabotage on Lucky One. With her husky yet simultaneously airy voice, a grounding percussion, and backing instrumentals, she acknowledges the complexity of dealing with multiple emotions that contradict each other, all at once. Lucky One lives in a space that’s tired of confrontation, but knows it has no other option; still, it’s relentlessly, cautiously hopeful that things will change – a charged reminder of the power of success.
4. Saline Eyes – Autumn Rain
Autumn Rain is an intriguing combination of soft melancholia wrapped in warmth. At first glance, it’s bright and peppy, but upon peeling back a layer, it’s thoughtful in a bittersweet way. Saline Eyes delivers lyrics like “Thoughts of you are going through my mind and I don’t know if I’m ready to take the time and try and figure out if I do still miss the way you looked at me…” in a stream-of-consciousness mode, giving the whole track the feel of pouring all your thoughts out into a journal at midnight. Autumn Rain’s hazy overtones give it a mystic feel that’ll keep you coming back to decode it – listen here!
5. And The Broken – Changes
Changes leaps forward with crashing drums and strong guitar that’ll immediately draw you in with their lively restlessness. The entire track – from the instruments to the arrangement and vocal delivery – is tinged with sadness, peeking out from beneath the full-bodied production. And The Broken’s sound on Changes is intense, free, and grounded, giving the song the autonomy to sweep you up with it. As it progresses, it becomes almost feverish in its vigour: the electric guitar solo towards the end, over the now-familiar instrumentation, brings the song to a close on a high, leaving you chasing after it on loop.
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