The room stays in the take. That is the first pull of Hurb Jephasun’s "In The End", a four-track EP that puts raw texture ahead of a cosmetic finish. The Perth-based Australian outsider artist leaves breath audible, lets the voice crack and gives the keys real weight. There is no gloss and no studio trickery trying to make the work behave. Instead, the release brings its...

Desperate Electric, the genre-defying power disco duo out of Butte, Montana, dive headfirst into an intoxicating cocktail of rhythm and human vulnerability on their new studio album, "News Flash!". Kayti Korte and Ben Morris are tapping into a bizarre yet flawless universe where late-night romantic nostalgia meets a relentlessly confident dance-pop bounce. The entire record is an exploration of sexual liberation and escapism that...