Listening to Bloomfield Machine's new seventeen-track instrumental album, “Copium,” feels a bit like stepping into a terrarium during a quiet downpour. The title itself suggests a kind of modern, knowing self-delusion, the balm we apply just to get by. Yet, the music crafted by Huntington Beach’s Brian Kassan is far too sincere for pure cynicism. This isn’t the sound of giving up; it’s the...

Kevin Driscoll’s debut single, “Black It Out,” doesn’t so much introduce a new artist as it kicks open the door to a room mid-deconstruction. You’re immediately in the thick of it, dust in the air, surrounded by the emotional wreckage of something that was clearly, once, a home. https://open.spotify.com/track/02int8lfeW6gHlW85zb9Le?si=VphHuhmKSE68wTx4ebJ9ew That promised “catchy rhythmic guitar” has a beautifully troubled energy. It’s not a hook that invites you...