There is a subspecialty among furniture artisans that specializes in making newer things appear older. Sometimes the retro piece you have in mind isn’t available, so you take something more recent and use tricks of the trade to make it feel vintage.

This is a paragraph about the Legal Matters.

Once heralded as an “indie supergroup”—which honestly feels like an oxymoron—the Legal Matters unites Michigan singer-songwriters Keith Klingensmith, Andy Reed and Chris Richards in the cause of making brand new music with a distinct retro flair. It’s three guys who found one another via a shared love for classic sounds, with familiar threads of the Beatles, Beach Boys, Kinks, Hollies, Big Star and Badfinger (among others) woven into the fabric of their songs.

That said, a lot of times with these sorts of collaborations, you get one or maybe two albums out of them and they’ve said what they had to say, made the sound they wanted to make, and moved on. The Legal Matters, by contrast, remain a going concern 12 years and now four albums into their run. Their 2014 self-titled debut and 2016’s follow up Conrad were both on Omnivore; 2021’s Chapter Three was on Futureman Records; and their new album Lost At Sea is being issued by Big Stir Records, a Burbank, CA indie label specializing in power pop and pop rock.

It would be interesting to report that Lost At Sea represents a sea change* in their approach and sound (*sorry, had to). It doesn’t. The one real shift this time was in the process that took them from idea to finished product. Rather than the individual writers working up demos of songs and presenting them to the band, this time around each writer brought an idea, riff, concept or lyrical hook to the group, and they built the songs together from there in true collaborative fashion.

While the results of this approach don’t differ noticeably in terms of sound—the chiming guitars, layered harmonies, quirky arrangements, and clever lyrical pokes and prods all remain present—there is something to this synergistic approach, in that each songs feels a little more like it’s greater than the sum of its parts. It also feels like there is an extra measure of attention to detail and musical textures that benefits the entire production.

Opener and first single “Everybody Knows” shows this off immediately, a richly layered and textured number whose almost symphonic melancholy recalls Badfinger in particular. Both it and driving, harmony-rich second track “The Message”—think Beach Boys reimagined by Alex Chilton and Dave Davies—address the collective societal unease and uncertainty referenced in the album title.

Similarly flavorful nods to musical antecedents are sprinkled throughout the track list, from “Temporary Thing” (orchestral pop with hints of country) to “Stuck With Me” (airy/echoey 1965 British Invasion) to “Marching On,” a 1967 psych-jangle fiesta with dashes of both mellotron and boogie piano, and big harmonies on chorus. Both of the latter two tracks also spotlight guest drummer Donny Brown in the early going.

The guys lean into their affection for lush classicist chamber pop in numbers like “Shake The Feeling” and “Slow Down”; it’s a sound they pull off well that doesn’t particularly appeal to this listener (different strokes). Tastier to these ears is “It Doesn’t Matter,” a slow-building anthem whose layered arrangement gets big, thrummy and Big Star-manic.

“Let Me Explain” is a rather melodramatic mid-tempo cut with lots of orchestration and late-Beatles / Badfinger in its bones, a tad overwrought but compelling for all that. The group’s Beatles love reaches its apex with closer “The Exit Signs,” which sounds like Abbey Road and Pet Sounds had a baby.

Klingensmith, Reed and Richards have studied the masters and adopted a sonic environment that they not only feel comfortable in, but genuinely love. And—by the way—you should do what you genuinely love, every chance you get. That’s kind of the point, especially when you’re an independent musical artist in today’s world. If you’re not loving what you’re doing, I’m not too clear on why you’re doing it at all.

For fans of classic rock and/or classicist power pop, the Legal Matters make musical comfort food that goes down easy and leaves you feeling warm inside. Lost At Sea is a terrific collection of brand-new songs dressed in vintage clothes, a warm and familiar sound just waiting to welcome you back.

Rating: B+

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