There is a certain engine-knock honesty to Thain’s new single "Still Sick", a sound that feels less produced and more… excavated. It’s a defiant piece of Midwest air, thick with the collaborative energy of Hippy K’s verses and the raw, tangible world built by producer Audio Paradolia. This isn't the slick, polished chrome of mainstream ambition; it's the hum of a workshop where something...

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...