The second you hit play, you know exactly what kind of energy you are dealing with. It is the sonic equivalent of rolling your eyes at someone who just tried to explain your own job to you. The guitars kick in with a sarcastic bite, and the drums immediately set a pace that refuses to slow down for anyone. This is the sound of pure,...

Dan Wilkie’s sixteen-song album, "MelodyBox," arrives not with a neat bow but feeling more like an overstuffed cabinet of curiosities flung open by its Shefford-based creator. Wilkie, working solo as a multi-instrumentalist and producer, wrangles virtual instruments and real vulnerability into something uniquely his own, steeped in the melodic hooks of 60s/70s pop but often taking sharp turns down less-travelled, sometimes shadowed paths. https://open.spotify.com/album/0EX2aW7d7JSQ2xonrFDGvZ?si=XRwACPuoRW2vG_PAITRfyg The album...