Take Jack Horton, a Portland-based singer-songwriter whose path to folk-Americana included stops at Japanese law school, Tokyo piano bars, corporate boardrooms, and government offices. His latest EP, "Imperfections," feels like finding someone's private journal set to music. And that someone happens to write really, really well. The five-song collection opens with "Set Me Free," a piano-driven confession that might surprise anyone expecting typical breakup bitterness. Horton...

True Emergency’s new single, "Where It Ends," feels less like something merely listened to and more like stumbling upon a very loud, very candid diary entry left open on a park bench in Montréal. Mick, the project's originator, now with his best friend alongside, doesn’t just pour heart and soul; they practically detonate them. https://open.spotify.com/track/5x0thsyXSP1XTVK1ClYfWX?si=WTZ_gJhOR9yRdDolwxwZZg The sound? Oh, it’s a gloriously conflicted thing: think massive, modern...