Flavor Wave’s single, “The Optimist,” arrived less like a declaration and more like someone tentatively drawing back a dusty curtain on a grey afternoon. From West Chester, PA, these five lifelong friends – Kyle Loedel (vocals, lyrics), Matthew Stretch (lead guitar), Patrick Blair (rhythm guitar), Noah Montgomery (bass), and Joshua Speaker (performer/drums) – typically tread alternative rock paths nodding to influences like The Strokes....

There is a specific, fleeting hue of orange that only seems to hit the underside of clouds in late October, and listening to Kazu Osumi and her new single "Times of Love" feels exactly like watching that color fade into gray. It is an acoustic embrace that somehow feels both incredibly heavy and lighter than air. https://open.spotify.com/track/2dUYxf7zEiLxRX8bTs3emW?si=39081e63a0b94c7c The track situates itself in an Alternative Pop-Rock landscape,...