Shawn Brown’s EP, "Into the Furious Light," doesn’t slip quietly into the stream of modern indie-folk releases; it instead cups its hands around your soul like you’re a candle in danger of flickering out. The Portland troubadour crafts songs that feel like fragments of conversations—maybe ones you walked in on too late or letters unsent to someone dear but no longer near. You’re never...

With the passage of time, it becomes increasingly important to have quiet time and space in which to process complex ideas. You must honor that under any circumstances. Having said that, Cullen Jack is hoping that things will get back to normal and that he will be fine even if you don't end up going. He sings about this and other related issues in his new...