There's a specific kind of pleasant dread in the opening moments of Korda Korder’s new single, "You Still Turn Me Inside Out," like standing at the entrance of a cathedral you know is haunted by something benevolent. The East Sussex outfit calls this a gothic lament, and they aren't wrong, but it’s a lamentation born from awe, not sorrow. Guitars fall like silver rain...

Seishin Takeno's "Echoes," a sonic postcard from Kanagawa. Nine instrumental pieces, I've been told. Not nine songs, mind you – more like nine shaded windows into a particular kind of quiet. This isn't music that yells; it leans in, like a friend confiding a secret you half-hear on a summer porch. Immediately, you're not so much listening as remembering. Or maybe anticipating. It feels...