Minneapolis Veteran John Deering Emerges from Three-Decade Hiatus with Blistering Single That Confronts Hypocrisy Through Gritty, Basement-Recorded Intensity His first song, "Strip Mall Jesus," is not just a throwback to the Seattle movement of the 1990s; it is a raw release of unresolved emotion, wrapped in analogue warmth and delivered with the unwavering honesty of someone who has nothing left to prove. Recording for "Strip Mall...

Phoebe Huisman and the release "Inside" arrived in my speakers like the sudden, sharp scent of rain hitting hot asphalt familiar, grounding, and weirdly emotional. There is something unnerving about how accurately this collection of songs maps the topographical mess of being a teenager. Huisman, a singer-songwriter with the technical chops of a Distinction-grade vocalist and the heart of a poet, has essentially constructed...