This edition of LITM Rock Picks brings to you genre blending instrumentals, contemplative rock, melancholic, atmospheric rock, and more.. The list features Brendan Ranney, Mental Gymnast, Captains of Entropy, and more.
Brendan Ranney - Last Ride
Starting off with a guitar and drum pattern that makes you stop what you are doing and lend your attention to it, ‘Last Ride’ by Brendan Ranney feels like quiet contemplation through wide, empty roads at night. The instrumentation maintains a constant, with guitars maintaining a steady pattern and the light drum playing giving the song just the right level of groove and grounding. The whole song’s tone, alongside that of the vocals, gives the songs a depth that settles into your mind slowly and then all at once. Making you feel like you are having a conversation with parts of you that you left unmet for a while, this song might just be the shoulder that you need.
Mental Gymnast - Romance Novels
Making no attempt at subtlety regarding the sound and genre it wishes to occupy, ‘Romance Novels’ by Mental Gymnast surprises you entirely with the paradox that is played with in terms of the title and the approach in its music. The song takes on punk-metal sound, coming at you roaring and thundering, with guitars taking on a dark, urgent sound and drums going about restlessly and incessantly. The vocals in the song take many different approaches, with growls, with radio static kind of effect playing in, with background harmonisations, making the song contain multitudes. Give this one a listen, for it is definitely one that you do not see coming.
Captains of Entropy - Infection
A unique bass riff opening up the song that immediately catches your attention, ‘Infection’ by Captains of Entropy brings to you a genre blending sound that will fill your heart with delight. The song is entirely instrumental, and in that space it brings together retro synths, jazz textures, and of course light rock. This amalgamation gives the song layers that are lush while being expansive in a very contradictory way. The song feels like sitting in a dimly lit space, and listening to gifted artists play, and having your ears especially delight in a bass that is so magnetic that it pulls all the other musical elements together.
Maria Grazia Altea - Black Out
With tones and rhythms and lyrics that reach into your heart and pierce, ‘Black Out’ by Maria Grazia Altea feels like floating through a river under the moonlight. A dense, intensely affective melancholia rules the song’s rhythms and turns, while also holding space for an allure that comes only from the magnetism that is held in songs that drown in those blue feelings. The acoustic and electric guitar interplay is simply brilliant and holds the ground for the mood that the song embodies. Maria’s vocals are rich as velvet, while reminding you of a mirror that one sees in empty, abandoned homes – continuing to watch even when there is nothing left to watch.
Siv Disa - Fade Into You
A beautiful take on the original, ‘Fade Into You’ by Siv Disa is quieter, it is more densely emotive, and leaves you yearning in a manner that you did not think a song could push you to. The song is acoustic guitar driven, with the classic electric guitar twangs that give the song that shimmering, ethereal quality. The vocals in the song are punctuated with a deep sense of longing, and it is primarily brought in by the low pitched, raw, unembellished quality of it, which allows for an intimate feel to take hold. Same and yet so very different, this cover is definitely one that you will find yourself returning to.
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