Lungomare just released a new song that starts out calm and almost hypnotic and then builds into a soundscape that feels overly simple on purpose. Warm melodic layers are broken up by colder, more mechanical textures that temporarily break the calm. These small sound changes add stress without overpowering the piece. This creates a delicate balance where harmony and friction are always rubbing against each other....

Let’s be clear about Social Gravy’s re-released single, “Fools”: this is not a song that uses metaphor as a shield. From its first snarling chords, this track, a furious time capsule from 2016 unearthed by Brad Kohn and Vee Bordukov, feels less like a composition and more like a brick heaved through a stained-glass window. It’s a raw-throated accusation, a two-by-four of a protest...