There is a peculiar friction to the digital textures of Skylarka and her new album, "Somnorine". It’s supposed to be chiptune-influenced synthwave, but listening to it feels less like browsing the internet and more like chewing on aluminum foil while watching Blade Runner on a CRT monitor that’s slowly degaussing. It’s a sensory contradiction bright, crystalline pop hooks wrestling with the deep, existential dread...

Some records do not ask for your attention; they simply demand it by speaking the exact truth you have been avoiding. Debo Ray does exactly that with 'Echoes and Embers', a four-track EP that hits like a sudden realization after a long period of denial. The Grammy-nominated vocalist takes the heavy, often unspoken reality of mental health struggles and spins it into a project that feels...