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...

Novozero. Anna and Andreas, up there in Tromsø, sending out signals. This single, "To All The Times," arrives sounding less like a postcard from the Arctic Circle and more like a transmission intercepted from a satellite caught between decades. There’s a definite gravity here – fuzz bass anchoring washes of synth that shimmer and pulse, guitars that chime before they roar. It’s big rock...