This edition of LITM Singer-Songwriter Picks features a Southern ode to comfort food, a wordless prelude about rising again, and a tender violin lullaby. The list features artists Michael B Kowal, MONNE, and Smells Like Rain.
Michael B Kowal - Rice and Gravy
Michael B Kowal opens his new EP with “rice and gravy,” and I could practically smell the kitchen from the first verse. He doesn’t treat the dish as a novelty; it becomes his way back home. My favorite moment is the line about drifting “a little far from where you’re supposed to be,” because it turns a plate of comfort food into a compass. The song moves at an easy, unhurried pace, and his warm, lived-in voice sounds like someone swapping stories on a porch at dusk. It got me thinking about the small rituals that ground us when life pulls us off course. I came away a little homesick for a place I’ve never even been.
MONNE - Resurrection
At just one minute and twenty-one seconds, “Resurrection” is the shortest track on this list, but MONNE makes every second count. It opens the album From the Ashes We Will Grow, and it works like a slow intake of breath before everything else begins. There are no words, only long, gliding tones that bend and rise over a low, steady hum. I loved how the melody seems to climb out of the dark, which feels like the perfect sound for a title like this. It’s less a song than a doorway, and by the time it faded out, I was more than ready to step through and hear what grows from those ashes.
Smells Like Rain - Lullaby No. 15: “Gabriela”
Smells Like Rain, the Austin-based musician, has been building a quiet collection of lullabies, and “Gabriela” is the fifteenth. He recorded it himself and left it bare, without any studio gloss, which made me feel like I was sitting in the room with him. His classical background shows in the careful way the strings are arranged, yet the song’s heart is gentle, unhurried folk. What moved me most is the idea behind it: learning to let go of control. Amid job worries, rising costs, and an uneasy world, he turns toward community and toward truly understanding his partner. It’s a lullaby about acceptance, and in just over four minutes, it slowed my racing thoughts to a whisper.
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