LITM Singer-songwriter picks tunes brought to you by Casey Louis, OCHRE, Sven Curth, Mahto & The Loose Balloons and The Cumberland River Project
1. Casey Louis – "Growing Pains"
Casey Louis has never been interested in the easy version of anything. Originally from Westport, Connecticut and now based in Los Angeles, he's built a career on creating music that speaks to people at a subconscious level, spanning singer-songwriter intimacy, alternative rock, and indie pop. Casey Louis "Growing Pains" fits perfectly into that restless search for meaning. His album work is filled with themes of self-discovery, identity, and change, and his approach is one of fierce authenticity, refusing to smooth out the imperfections because they are exactly what make the work feel real. This song feels like a journal entry written at 3am and never regretted in the morning
2. OCHRE - Way Out
OCHRE is the eclectic and electric banner of singer-songwriter, Charlotte Lloyd-Butler. The artist treats OCHRE as an alternative persona that exists within her, using music to express a dynamic and colourful atmospheres of her mind. Her latest release is ‘Way Out’, a tracks that has a delightful indie pop flavour with refreshing moments of synths and a buoyant riff dimension. Matched with her contemplative, almost dreamy vocals, the soundscape gains a technicolor dimension. A cerebral intensity that is so refreshing in this setting. It’s explorative, thoughtful, and sophisticated. The craft taps into an indie niche that you don’t often hear. The way she embraces the alternative sphere is her own, authentic and individualistic. Imagine a blend between The Arctic Monkeys, Billie Eilish, and Beach House. That’s how this artist’s music sounds. Listen Now!
3. Sven Curth – "How Come"
There's a moment in "How Come" where the guitar and the upright bass lean on each other like old friends at last call, and that's the entire spirit of this song. Opening Sven Curth's live set recorded at the Waterhole in Saranac Lake, New York, "How Come?" arrives with playful approachability, asking why everything good feels so fleeting, framing life itself as a game with limited seating. There's a thumping shuffle on the drum kit, the bass guitar walks on a loose leash, and Curth's vocals sit somewhere between Dylan and Van Morrison, questioning social norms with the energy of someone who genuinely wants an answer. Irresistible and quietly wise.
4. Mahto and The Loose Balloons – "Systemic"
Mahto Addison-Browder has a gift for making the political feel personal without making it preachy. The live version of "Systemic," opening his radio sessions recording, arrives with contained tension: a nervous acoustic guitar, an upright bass pulsing in the background, and minimal drums, stripped back to reveal its skeleton, a precisely written song about social mechanisms delivered without raising its voice. Based in Johnson City, Tennessee, Mahto writes lyrics that often arrive to him mid-shift, mid-drive, or mid-conversation—ordinary moments producing extraordinary observations. Punk Head "Systemic" is the sound of someone looking at how the world works and deciding, quietly but firmly, that it doesn't have to.
5. The Cumberland River Project – "Turntable"
Frank Renfordt is a man in his sixties from Hagen, Germany who fell in love with American country music and refused to let geography stop him. He worked in the steel industry for most of his life before switching lanes entirely, becoming a songwriter, singer, and producer — building The Cumberland River Project into a vehicle for stories about blue-collar life, love, and the enduring pull of authenticity. "Turntable" carries that same warmth: narrative-based songwriting with a high emotional quotient, metaphorical depth, and poetic prowess — genre-expansive at its core, blending soul, jazz, and Americana influences. It's proof that the best music comes from people with something real to say.
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