TJ Howlett has officially ushered in the heavy, introspective season with his new release, "Easy Street". The Melbourne singer, songwriter, and early-90s grunge veteran bypasses modern polish altogether, choosing instead to steep himself in sultry, slow blues-rock that carries the weight of a smoke-filled room and deep-seated regret. https://open.spotify.com/album/6wLvX4vix5YygVOuQ7039p?si=aasK_0XHSAmhDNLFrh-aUw The title track maps out the murky topography of a rundown dive bar. We are observing melancholic...

Simeon Kirkegaard's album "*" arrived, and it’s been rattling around my head like loose change in an empty pocket ever since. This Nordic musician dives headfirst into the murky, churning waters of lost love and the obsessive echo it leaves behind across ten distinct yet interwoven tracks. It maps out a landscape not just of longing, but of the peculiar haunting that follows a...