Jessie Bird's new single, "Break It," feels less like a song strategically dropped and more like a personal diary accidentally left open on a park bench – specifically, one hailing from the clear-aired honesty of Camrose, Canada. The initial notes of this indie folk-pop track carry a disarming simplicity, almost akin to the unassuming hum of an old refrigerator right before it sputters out...

There is a peculiar kind of engine at the heart of "Half Evil" by Tomato Soup, and it runs not on gasoline but on disorientation. The Denver six-piece calls their sound "Motor-Folk," and it fits. The track has the chugging, forward-moving momentum of a vehicle, yet it seems to be driving through a landscape seen in a fever dream, where the signposts are all...