The current wave of alternative R&B keeps pushing past polished radio formulas into something more textured and lived-in. Artists are reaching for guitars, analog warmth, and mid-tempo grooves that feel closer to a late-night conversation than a club anthem. Austin Powell’s “Retribution,” the focus track from his debut album CHALANT, sits right in that pocket. It is an upbeat, guitar-forward alternative R&B cut built on a strong groove, and it lands as one of the clearer examples of the genre’s current indie-leaning direction.
Powell describes the track as the kind of song that evokes the genre-bending sonics of Steve Lacy and mk.gee. The production leans heavily analog: expansive guitars, warm synths, slide guitar, and those mid-tempo rhythms that give the whole thing room to breathe. It does not chase maximal drops or overstuffed arrangements. Instead it rides a solid pocket, letting the guitars do the heavy lifting while the groove keeps everything moving. For listeners who gravitate toward bedroom-tinged indie R&B or the lo-fi pop edges of adult contemporary, the track offers that familiar intimacy without sacrificing forward motion. The result feels purposeful rather than accidental—an intentional blend of older soul-pop instincts and today’s more fragmented production style.
CHALANT, out October 9 via TooLost, is Powell’s first full album and already carries more than a thousand presaves. The New Jersey-raised singer, songwriter, and producer wrote much of it in a small cabin while coming to terms with his grandmother’s declining health. He later left Los Angeles and moved in with her in Palm Springs to help care for her. That shift—from independence into interdependence, from separation into togetherness—runs through the record. The title interlude features one of the conversations he recorded with her before she passed, in which she encourages him to do what is right for him and to accept himself the way she always had. Powell has said that journey into self-acceptance is what drives the album.
His background supports the sound. Raised in his grandmother’s house on the edge of the Pine Barrens, he got his first electric guitar at twelve and later taught himself production after Channel Orange rearranged his sense of what R&B could be. Influences stretch from Bill Withers, Hall & Oates, the Beach Boys, and the Beatles to Frank Ocean, Dijon, and mk.gee. He has played stages from New York and Los Angeles to Minneapolis, Atlantic City, and Las Vegas. Earlier work such as the 2019 single “No Vacancy” drew coverage from Happy Mag, and he has appeared on network television including Shameless and NCIS. The album’s lead single “changes!” already generated significant social traction, and the project will be marked with a release concert in Los Angeles on October 10 featuring other local artists.
This kind of guitar-driven alternative R&B continues to gain ground precisely because it prioritizes personal storytelling and analog texture over trend-chasing. In a moment when many indie artists are building catalogs on their own terms, Powell’s approach—rooted in real life transitions and a clear lineage of genre-pushing predecessors—fits the wider conversation. Listeners looking for music that sits between indie R&B, bedroom pop, and adult contemporary will find “Retribution” rewards repeat plays for its groove and its restraint.
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What do you think of this guitar-forward take on alternative R&B? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
