There is a strangely magnetic pull to Paper Mountains’ released debut album, "An Olive Tree and a Warm Breeze." Toby Lloyd, the music producer, songwriter, and frontman steering this solo project, has stepped away from the background of crafting sounds for others to finally map out his own mind. Leaning into the soul and folk-pop sensibilities of Iron and Wine and Sam Cooke, Lloyd...

North Star Union has released "Echoes of decay", a slice of melodic heavy metal that feels less like a standard studio tracking and more like something dug out of the permafrost. There is a curious quality to Icelandic composer Myrmann’s work here; because he handles all the instrumentation and composition himself at Midgard Studio, the track possesses a singular, frighteningly cohesive nervous system. It...