Kent Owens, a name that sounds like it should be on a library card next to “Hemingway,” but instead it's on the digital shelf next to my slightly messy playlist. This Cambridge-based creator of soundscapes – I’m resisting calling them songs, but…well – just released “Fade Away,” a single that feels like an open window after a long winter. It’s a soft rock hum...

A Masterclass in Musical Mourning Transforms Personal Loss into Universal Catharsis "Fare Thee Well" Larry Karpenko comes as a surprise, like a handmade letter tucked inside a library book: personal, frighteningly clear. This album is an elegy for Sharlene, a missionary, mother, and friend who died at age 43 of cancer. It does not just mourn; it breaks down loss with the care of an artist...