Dylan Forshner's new EP, “Hopeless Optimism,” presents itself not so much as a collection of songs but as a series of candid diary entries set to intricately picked acoustic strings. This five-song journey from the Welland, Canada artist begins in a place of palpable internal wrestling, where the lyrics – and Forshner’s delivery – map out the grim territories of being overwhelmed, using substances...

Nothing Concrete’s new album, “The Imperfectionist”, is less a collection of songs and more a vessel that’s been around the world a few times, collecting scuffs and stories. It’s a beautifully unsteady thing, this record from the duo of Fergus McKay and Gaia Miato. They’ve crafted a dusty, globetrotting shuffle where bluesy resignation and the dramatic posture of tango are held together by the...