Okay, here we go, let's talk about Adriana Spuria's "Away," because sometimes a song lands not like a stone, but more like a strangely shaped, resonant pebble you find in a forgotten corner of your pocket. https://open.spotify.com/track/4S9dPgEZGt7vGjiNMQIsXL?si=ec9935e4ba03479e It starts, well, I mean, not starts in the way a rocket launches. It's softer than that, all gentle hums and guitar twangs, before Adriana's voice drifts in, light...

Take Jack Horton, a Portland-based singer-songwriter whose path to folk-Americana included stops at Japanese law school, Tokyo piano bars, corporate boardrooms, and government offices. His latest EP, "Imperfections," feels like finding someone's private journal set to music. And that someone happens to write really, really well. The five-song collection opens with "Set Me Free," a piano-driven confession that might surprise anyone expecting typical breakup bitterness. Horton...