Dave Lebental Turns It up on Changing the Way I Feel, a Song About Writing Songs
A Los Angeles Songwriter Played Nearly Every Part on This Karma Train Piano-Rock Single
Grand piano, organ, slide guitar and a stacked horn section all come from one pair of hands on this record. The vocals do too. Dave Lebental released Changing the Way I Feel with his band Karma Train on 4 July 2025. It is a five-minute piano-rock song about the stubborn business of writing a song. Meanwhile, it sits where alt rock pop, AOR and art rock overlap. It also turns up the volume on a subject most songwriters keep private.
Dave Lebental’s single with Karma Train sits in the playlist below with our rock n roll and classic rock picks. His full run of coverage lives on his artist profile. Changing the Way I Feel came to this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news sites. Play it loud first, then read on for the wave it belongs to.
Piano-Led Rock Is Back in the Room, and Dave Lebental’s Karma Train Single Rides That Wave
Piano-led rock is making a quiet return among independent songwriters who grew up on vinyl. These records start from a piano and a real rhythm section. As a result, they sound like a band in a room. Rockera Magazine said as much about Stylus, the 2026 album that collects this single. In its view, a band made the record, and nobody assembled it on a grid.
Lebental’s own path shows the shift. After his 2024 album The Long Player, he moved out of the Americana lane, as Tinnitist notes. Instead, the California singer-songwriter leaned into his long love of melodic, piano-driven rock. In the same write-up, he ties the Stylus title to his life as a vinyl listener. He balances new ideas with classic form, and that balance is the sound of the wave.
The guitars still matter here. However, the piano drives the take, and the arrangements lean on horns, organ and stacked vocals. For AOR and art rock listeners, the shape is familiar, but the energy is fresh.
Where Dave Lebental Fits, From a Run of Singles to a Band Called Karma Train
Lebental did not arrive at this sound overnight. First came a steady run of singles from 2021, starting with Granite Meadow. Then The Long Player gathered eleven tracks in January 2024. In 2025, the credits changed. Race to the Bottom came out in April under the Karma Train and Dave Lebental name. The Not Exactly As You Planned EP followed in May, and this single arrived in July.
The band’s own account on Karma Train’s website explains the song. Lebental wrote it on piano. It picks apart the mysterious process every songwriter knows, and it celebrates the power of a great song to change your day. The band recorded the track at its studio in Los Angeles. On it, Lebental played grand piano, organ, bass, slide guitar and synth. He also played tenor and alto saxophone, trumpet and trombone, and he sang every vocal part.
The result is a big, busy arrangement that still moves. For example, Project Timbre heard faster beats and a forward push on the track. It also heard Karma Train playing tight enough to sound live. Stylus then followed on 20 February 2026, and the song found a home on its running order.
Changing the Way I Feel Sits Between Elton John, ELO and Brian Wilson on the Piano-Rock Shelf
The adjacent acts are easy to hear, and each one maps onto a part of this record. First, Elton John made the piano the engine of a rock single on Bennie and the Jets in 1973. Likewise, the grand piano drives Changing the Way I Feel. Next, Electric Light Orchestra stacked strings, synths and harmonies into pop-rock on Mr. Blue Sky in 1977. Lebental builds his arrangement the same way, layering organ, synth and horns over the band. Finally, Brian Wilson shaped Pet Sounds in 1966 around his own plan for every part. So a songwriter who plays nearly every instrument on his own single is working in that tradition.
Who Should Hear Changing the Way I Feel, and Where to Catch Karma Train
This single suits listeners who like melodic piano rock with real horns. It also suits AOR fans who miss records that sound like a band in a room. Above all, it suits anyone who has stared at a blank page, waiting for a song to arrive, because that wait is the subject. Karma Train tours cities on the West Coast of the US. Between shows, the band also streams live sets on YouTube, so the Stylus songs are easy to catch.
IndieRock.News curator team: “A song about how slowly songs arrive could easily sound slow itself. Instead, this one answers its own subject with five minutes of arrangement that never sits still. That contrast is the hook.”
Where to Hear Changing the Way I Feel and Follow Dave Lebental and Karma Train
Stream Changing the Way I Feel and follow Dave Lebental on Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. Catch the monthly live streams on his YouTube channel. Also keep up with him on Instagram and Facebook, or visit his official site. Karma Train also posts on its own YouTube channel and Facebook page.
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