Well, Ricky Leroy Brown has gone and done it, presenting us with "SEXUAL MANUAL FOR EXPERTS," and I confess, the title alone sent my mind skittering off like a startled cat at a séance. This solo Madrileño, who conjures entire soundscapes from his own hands and instruments, is clearly still communing with the spirit of Prince, all slinky guitars and a rhythm section that...

Adriana Spuria’s new single, “Stone,” presents itself with the polished feel of a perfect skipping-stone, but listening closely reveals it has the curious weight of a fossil in your palm. Spuria sings of a very specific, modern affliction: the slow petrification of the heart. This is a loneliness born not from solitude, but from an inability to feel for anyone else, an insulation that...