There is a specific kind of frantic energy in Jacob Chacko’s single "Drive Thru Fog And Rain" (from the album "Give Me The Good Stuff") that reminds me of realizing you’re late for a meeting that might change your life, but your foot is tapping against the floor mat anyway. It captures a feeling that is kinetic, nervous, and strangely electric. https://open.spotify.com/album/3nsiOEVBM8JKDEeZ3jlePu?si=jCITTgSDSy-xdDMJWLFuiw Chacko leans hard into...

Ava Valianti represents something increasingly rare in contemporary music: genuine precocity without artifice. This Massachusetts artist, who is only fifteen years old, handles general themes with a level of emotional depth that is shocking. She shows that youth can bring out the best in complicated human experiences, rather than hiding them. "Distant," her sixth single, functions as a sonic archaeology of friendship's dissolution. The track excavates layers...