Cat Mayel's "FREE" arrived, not on a silver platter, but more like a rogue pigeon delivering a very important message – a crumpled napkin with profound scribbles. This Nigerian producer, composer, arranger, and all-around sonic sorceress has served up a single dose of alternative neo-soul that feels… well, free. As free as a shopping cart with a wonky wheel, anyway. It goes where it...

The first listen to The Sun Harmonic’s single "Glory Days" is a jarringly familiar experience, like finding a hot-rodded engine inside your grandfather's once-sturdy grandfather clock. It’s all driving, muscular rock and roll, a glorious punk-adjacent racket built by Kaleb Hikele, Dave Skrtich, and Ian McLennan to peel the paint from the walls. Yet, nestled inside that furious momentum is a narrator stuck fast,...