When I pressed play on the latest release from Shelita, titled "Sailors", I wasn't expecting the floor to drop out from under me. You see, "pop" is often a safe word, a designation for the palatable. But this? This is something else entirely. It’s as if someone took a tender ballad and threw it into a particle accelerator to see what sub-atomic emotions would...

Arashk Azizi, a contemporary composer, navigates the profound depths of human emotion with his signature "Piano Poem" style. His latest release, "Elegy Sonata," is a four-track EP. "Elegy Sonata" grapples with death and grief, fear and mourning. Azizi's piano becomes a vessel, pouring out despair and flashes of raw anger, reflecting upon loss—loss that, it appears, resonates deeply with his personal journey. You know, it...