Robin James Hurt’s “A Song, A Story Told” arrives with a sound you can almost run a thumb over, like worn corduroy. In an age of sterile, diamond-polished productions, this album is a defiantly handmade thing, tracked onto vintage cassette machines. The result is not a flaw, but an ingredient. A faint, persistent hiss breathes alongside the instruments, a ghost in the machine who...

Filipino-Black pop star Taylor Heavenly has released her new single, "Clown," along with a stunning music video. The song starts off like the first scene of a movie, with big production and a sense of drama that draws people in. From the first note, the music has a cinematic aspect as the strings swell, the beats hit with purpose, and every sound detail combines to create...