Sometimes you just need a track that gives you permission to stop being nice. There is a specific kind of freedom in realizing you do not actually have to pretend to like everyone on your feed, and that realization hits like a physical shockwave the second this beat drops. It is loud, it is funny, and it completely refuses to apologize for taking up space....

Micah Rose-Trespeuch’s new album, "Coughing Up Blood," feels less like a listening experience and more like witnessing an urgent, almost involuntary act of transmutation. Rose-Trespeuch (piano, vocals), with Julien Baraness masterfully texturing the soundscapes and Gaetan Allard providing the often-fractured, sometimes thunderous pulse on drums, has crafted something akin to a diary written in volatile ink. One moment, you're amidst Chopin-esque piano runs that...