The beat drops, and suddenly you are standing at the edge of a decision you cannot take back. That is the immediate, visceral pull of "Wide Open", the latest release from a group that knows exactly how to manipulate tension. It hits the ear not with a bang, but with a slow, deliberate pressure that wraps around you before you even realize you are caught....

Edinburgh songwriter James King delivers a haunting solo debut "Firefly" that transforms trauma into raw, cathartic art It is very pleasant to hear an artist ready to bleed onto the recording in this day and age of over-production and automated music. This is exactly what James King's first solo record, "Firefly," does: it lets fans into the soul of an artist who is not afraid to...