Listening to Arnold J.’s new single, "Muddy Waters," isn't quite like anything else swirling around right now. It arrives with the gentle insistence of incoming tide, pulling you into its specific gravity. Arnold J., Ghanaian-born and now Canada-based, weaves a sound tagged as alt-country and folk, but those labels feel thin, like trying to contain smoke. There’s earthiness, sure, but his soulful vocal lines...

Okay, so, you’ve got music hitting your eardrums. Sometimes it's like a rogue pigeon landing right outside your window – startling, unexpected, but maybe interesting? Ozzient's “Peace, Not War” single feels a little like that pigeon, only this one’s carrying a tiny, insistent megaphone yelling about, well, peace and not war. Obvious, sure, but when was the last time obvious actually soaked in? https://open.spotify.com/album/4mb3AYjTpp2SN5lzOqy5e0?si=cJzQ6WgVTkWdiKTkvgN1uw This track...