Daniel de Boer isn't just making tunes; he's orchestrating miniature global summits set to music. "The Turnaround," his EP, does not really feel like a collection of songs. Instead, it is more like a rack of postcards from faraway friends, all sent from a studio in Berlin. Produced alongside Shakthi Prasad, this six-track offering pulls together musicians from an impressive roster of nations – Russia, Argentina,...

Shawn Brown’s EP, "Into the Furious Light," doesn’t slip quietly into the stream of modern indie-folk releases; it instead cups its hands around your soul like you’re a candle in danger of flickering out. The Portland troubadour crafts songs that feel like fragments of conversations—maybe ones you walked in on too late or letters unsent to someone dear but no longer near. You’re never...