Right. So, Lillestrøm. Norway. Land of… well, apparently, intensely yearning folk-rock anthems now. Thomas And The Angry Hearts, shepherded into existence by Ronni Le Tekrø (of TNT fame, remember explosions?), have dropped "It's You," and the title isn't kidding. The whole thing is an extended, sometimes dizzying, ode to someone. https://open.spotify.com/track/29tj0tp8ydyTqXWuzvWEzv?si=7jGWO1lfQGWrz21iFr4kgA This isn't a casual, "hey, you're nice" kind of thing. This is full-blown, operatic (in...

Robin James Hurt’s “A Song, A Story Told” arrives with a sound you can almost run a thumb over, like worn corduroy. In an age of sterile, diamond-polished productions, this album is a defiantly handmade thing, tracked onto vintage cassette machines. The result is not a flaw, but an ingredient. A faint, persistent hiss breathes alongside the instruments, a ghost in the machine who...