D.D.R. (Divorced Dad Rock) hits the pavement running on "Blinded By the Blonde: Chapter One", turning the jagged debris of romantic wreckage into pure kinetic energy. The seven-song collection marks the latest outing from Indiana-based novelist and songwriter Stephen Paul, whose philosophy of "universal specificity" treats private heartbreaks as open-source emotional blueprints. Rather than wallowing quietly behind closed doors, Paul channels the soaring melodies...

Austin-based artist Hoxsey arrives with "Harvest Moon Sessions", an ambitious, unpredictable collection that catches the exact chill of early autumn when the sun sinks early and the wind carries an unsettling bite. It sidesteps seasonal kitsch entirely. Instead of manufactured haunted-house theatrics, the record confronts mortality, folklore, and the strange detritus of human memory by wandering through genres like an explorer traversing an overgrown...