There is a peculiar kind of magic in watching people completely rewrite the script of their own public existence, which is exactly what The Marsh Family are doing with their sweeping debut album, "Hollow Chapters". You likely remember Ben, Danielle, Alfie, Tom, Ella, and Tess as the cheerful Kent collective whose viral parodies gave millions a reason to smile when the walls were closing...

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...