Features

AzeriahVII makes obsession feel less like a confession and more like a slow descent on “I’m Obsessed With You.” Released August 28, the debut single places bass, vocals and dark electronic textures at the center of an atmosphere. The tension is allowed to linger, becoming increasingly intimate and unsettling as…

Sean Coats turns heartbreak into a three-song journey through disappointment, anger and the slow acceptance that follows. Released August 30, Hello Cloudy Skies is the Pekin, Indiana singer-songwriter’s most personal and expansive project yet, blending fictional storytelling with emotions drawn from real experience. Recorded largely in his home studio while…

CAMERON turns romantic insecurity into something sleek, seductive and quietly devastating on “Love Me Like Your Ex.” The 23-year-old Nashville pop artist steps away from the ’80s influence of his earlier work for a more contemporary sound, drawing from artists like Troye Sivan and Tate McRae. But beneath the polished…

Eli Wise returns to music after nearly a decade away with Ghosts and Logic, a three-song indie-pop EP about losing things, making difficult choices and finding your way back to yourself. The Bay Area songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist approaches existential questions with an unexpectedly light touch, turning personal upheaval into…

Don Eastland calls his sound “New Nostalgia,” and “Cafe Chronicles” is a fitting example of what that means. Released September 4, the indie synth-pop track takes the warmth of retro electronics and places it inside a story about wandering, belonging and discovering connection among strangers. It feels like a memory…

Tomek Zdyb steps into a new artistic era with “Don’t Look ‘Em In The Eyes,” turning the myth of Medusa into a sharp metaphor for idolization, manipulation and losing sight of your own worth. The Opole, Poland-based singer-songwriter has built his music around emotional honesty and stories about experiences that…

Aaron Thompson’s “Swing That Hammer” turns a civic message into something far more inviting than a political lecture. The Sacramento songwriter and multi-instrumentalist builds the track around a simple idea, use the tools you have, do the work and, when it is time, vote. The hammer becomes a metaphor for…

John Muka Band’s “Bus Stop” arrives from another era, but its questions feel strikingly current. Originally written in the early 2000s amid the fear and uncertainty surrounding 9/11, the Jacksonville indie-rock/Americana band’s latest single finds a new home in a world where people can communicate constantly and still feel strangely…

Estrada Music Project turns confinement into something strangely hypnotic with “Looking Out the Window,” the first glimpse of an upcoming full-length album. Written during a period of medical isolation, the song lingers in the peculiar headspace of having nowhere to go, watching ordinary life continue beyond the glass while time…

Miko X finds a hypnotic groove in “MOTION,” the second single from his forthcoming third album and a bass-heavy rap track built for swagger, repetition and relentless forward movement. Produced by Benji Prod., the track wraps its brash confidence around a surprisingly broad idea: whether life is going forward or…