Simona-Valentina’s new album, “Mirrors & Feathers,” arrived much like an unexpected guest at a tea party – one who’s been through a rather significant ordeal but still manages a fascinating, slightly skewed smile. This London-based songwriter, with roots trailing back to Transylvania, offers a collection that feels less like a polished performance and more like eavesdropping on intensely private, courageous conversations, rendered in dreamy,...

Bavarian solo project MICHAEL & THE GUILLOTINE returns with “The Hydra Blues,” a ferocious blues-rock single fueled by sheer defiance and hard-won survival. Built around an uncompromising rhythm, the track immediately sets up an immovable boundary against moralizing critics and self-appointed messiahs. https://open.spotify.com/track/0TSO5mklMtr7tAyLJS0YMZ?si=6478248449204129 The instrumentation crawls forward on a massive, relentless stomp, shadowed by a distorted, high-pitched wail that weaves throughout the mix like static on...