With his career-spanning album "Blue Without You", Pete Scales steps out of the shadows to offer a mesmerizing look into a mind permanently tuned to the strange frequencies of human connection. For over half a century, the retired psychologist, vocalist, and guitarist has mostly floated through the musical periphery. https://open.spotify.com/album/5c4EPzrnH1GnaKJHI2pPGJ?si=LbrNFPuVRwiuwgaTmkt8_w He played the coffeehouse circuit, brushed past the Grand Ole Opry, and leaned into contemporary Christian...

Amara-Fe has definitively shifted from the messy business of becoming into the absolute certainty of claiming with her new album, "A Queen’s Ambition". The rising solo artist, tethered to deep musical roots extending through Mission and Dallas, Texas, arrives fully formed here. There is a palpable weight to her cinematic R&B and electropop arrangements. You can almost feel her surveying her territory, setting borders,...