This week's LITM Singer-Songwriter Picks Cast beautiful atmospheres and ambiences with artists like Leon Blanchard, Wylderbeats, and Cornelius Eady Trio

This week's LITM Singer-Songwriter Picks Cast beautiful atmospheres and ambiences with artists like Leon Blanchard, Wylderbeats, and Cornelius Eady Trio

Leon Blanchard - Astronaut 

Leon Blanchard creates an atmosphere of electric contemplation and moody wonder with latest release, ‘Astronaut’. And it is the perfect ambience to experience the theme in. The singer-songwriter and versatile guitarist presents an expanse at the beginning of the track. A mellow flow of melodies, synths and baritones. And by the end of it, you’ll feel timeless, without space, swirling with the emotional galaxies that he explores. The whole soundscape is meant to transport you to surreal spaces, evoke dreamy thoughts, and a general sense of high that falling in love brings to a person. 

Kalyn Beasley - Had to Go There 

Kalyn Beasley is a singer-songwriter and country artist. He forges a memorable path to old country music. Coarse textures, evocative instrumentals and sentimental vocal curves. However, there is a remarkable freshness, an aftermath that drenches you completely. His latest release, ‘Had to Go There’ exemplifies this so perfectly. With immersive guitar strings, molten melodies, meaningful baritones, and a drifting rhythm, the mellow country rock influences shine through. It draws you into its soft yet intense space. 

Billy Traxler - Disarray 

Singer-songwriter and alt rock artist, Billy Traxler brings such unique ideas to his music. The smooth collision of convention, collaboration, consciousness, is what his music is about. In his latest release, ‘Disarray’, the artist explores the dynamics of the theme, casting it as a state of mind and then exploring how that space forms. The melodies, beats, acoustics, all contribute to a soft chaos in the song. While the rhythm and grooves are symmetrical, the theme forms in the texture, the arrangement of melodies, and the repetitive patterns. His vocals are pleasing baritones that tie into this vibe, keeps it going. And then, the artist collapses the soundscape with a quirky, comical and cartoon-like sonic crash, wrapping up the theme nicely. 

Wylderbeats - Bradford 

Wylderbeats has just released their latest folk album, ‘Famous Photograph’. Across the collection, he explores trad folk influences and how they collaborate and manifest in a contemporary or alt folk setting. Opening the album is ‘Bradford’, a song that is a slice of life narrative, a tale of all the times the protagonist visited the place. Played out from a retrospective lens, there is a fond tone, a wisdom, a sweetness. Evoking imagery of two people fall in love, from their meet cute on the crossroads to meeting her parents, their wedding. It is a song that wonders at the mysterious ways of love. If you’re in the market for a feel-good song, full of warmth and joy, this is it. 

Cornelius Eady Trio - Quicksand 

Cornelius Eady Trio is a folk group that began making music Covid. And a little bit of their music became influenced by the morbidity and darkness of the period. In their latest single, ‘Quicksand’, we get to experience themes like hopelessness, loneliness through a dry, contemplative lenses and it is quite refreshing. The soundscape is minimalistic, populated only with charismatic vocal presentations, slow grooves, and an ambient manifestation of the theme. We see a creative flow of soul, funk, blues, all made contemporary in a way that has never been done. 

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This Week's LITM Singer-Songwriter Picks is all about the alternative exploration with artists like Tic Tic, Matt Basile, and James Perciv

This Week's LITM Singer-Songwriter Picks is all about the alternative exploration with artists like Tic Tic, Matt Basile, and James Percival

Matt Basile - Hang on St. Christopher 

Matt Basile is a singer-songwriter and blues artist with irrepressible charisma. In his latest release, ‘Hang on St.Christopher’ is a conversation with St. Christopher, seeking for protection. With deep tonal grooves, classical guitar melodies, and baritonal blues, the track flows into a pleasing country rock. He keeps the atmosphere mellow and molten, slowly trotting on. It is a retro, old-timer kind of music that puts you into a nice bluesy state of mind. And with this he branches into a weary melancholy that is both refreshing and reflective. 

James Percival - Curtains Closed 

When you think of slice of life songs, James Percival should be the first artist you should think of. His latest release is the ‘Curtains Closed’ EP, a six track collection that explores the aching feeling of having someone you love in the hospital. The title track especially gets into this. A soft, acoustical composition that blends fine lines of piano and guitar melodies to craft a network of thoughts, memories, and feelings. The protagonist beseeches the person in the hospital to get well soon, the things that they can do once that happens, the things that they used to do before it happened. It’s quite beautiful to journey through it all. 

Tic Tic - While the Shadows Grow 

TiktTic is a singer-songwriter and modern folk duo. They have a way of dilating themes in a way that is so artful and pleasing. Their latest release is ‘While Shadows Grow’, the duo project a theatre of style and sonics, building ethereal acoustics into expressive shoegaze frames, electronic elements and deep vocal manipulations. This song, keeping in theme with the title is made to distort the reality of the listener, incept an atmosphere, an emotion that you can viscerally feel and experience. It is alternative folk rock at its best and most imaginative. Listen Now! 

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This week's LITM Rock Picks Present New & Alternative Spheres with artists like Hyporadar, Lenny Jennings, and Matt DeAngelis

This week's LITM Rock Picks Present New & Alternative Spheres with artists like Hyporadar, Lenny Jennings, and Matt DeAngelis.

Hyporadar - This Ain’t The Day I Die 

Hyporadar is the passion project of Shane Duquette, an artist with a vision like no other. He makes the alternative realm as we know it even more alternative. ‘This Ain’t The Day I Die’ explores a razor sharp, minimal flow that details a fuzzy and disoriented headspace. The beats are raw and the grooves are mellow but you can’t ignore the presence that they bring. And the vocals, uninflected, and deliberately dry, forge a very detached landscape. The hooks keep on coming, sliding, funky, bluesy and underground smooth, nicely rounding up a retro vibe that you can just drift into. Its repetitive nature, nicely glazed with hypnotic calls. 

Lenny Jennings - Phases 

Lenny Jennings brings an atmospheric soundscape with latest release, ‘Phases’. With slow burning riffs, deep grooves, and molten guitar melodies, he forges heartache, sensuality, and love. There are alternative elements like hip-hop rhythms, emo, and pop that turn up the rock. We see modern electronica manifest as cerebral synth patterns, forming waves and ripples in the transition. And all of this, so vivid and varied, is contextually, stylistically tied up with the fluid vocal dynamics. We see deep rock core driving into the song, fuzzy and intense, but soft and softening in a way that songs about love often get. 

Matt DeAngelis - For Better 

Matt DeAngelis has put out his latest single, ‘For Better’. The singer-songwriter and acoustic rock artist has an incredible musical pulse. The kind that carries into you and keeps vibrating, stays alive for many days to come. This track is built with free flowing riffs, luminous grooves, grand guitar showcases, and a lush vocal line. There is a classic rock influence that takes you back to artists like Queen. But there’s also a new age rock and singer-songwriter flow that takes over and nicely balances it all out. That intimacy of the latter with the culture of the former makes for quite the listening experience. 

Teika & The Raw Beat - Bones n Stones 

Teika & The Raw Beat is an explorative banner of singer-songwriter, Teika. She expands across the spectrum of folk rock and blues, crafting it with raw acoustics and bare beats, all of it lifting suggestively into her vocals. Her latest release is the ‘Bones n Stones’ album, a collection that discovers moments, claims memories, and describes a life lived. The title track is made like a single shot movie, a slow-moving frame that dotes on details, feelings, emotions, and everything in between. Piano melodies, string work elevate the energy of the acoustics, forging them with dimensions as we flow into the climax. 

Block - The Ring Slipped Off 

Block is a singer-songwriter and alt folk artist who strives to bring new interpretation to the genre. The artist describes himself and his style as anti-folk, as he moves away from orthodox and traditional expression. In his song, ‘The Ring Slipped Off’, he leans into his lofi songwriting style, expansive textures, and influence of indie rock. The song forms in phases. First comes the soft, trickling, nostalgic acoustic folk. Plush melodic moments appear like mirages throughout the song. It is raw and rustic. And flowing into the later parts, we see a rush of indie rock, illuminating the horizon like a rising sun. That gleam and luminescence is intoxicating, so refreshing and leaves you wanting more. 

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