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...

When the Australian band Evol Walks stripped down this version of "Sleeping with a Ghost," they bravely went where no one had gone before. The ominous words and heavy music in the song are well known. The song's version from a year ago is interesting, and it gives us a sneak peek at the band's much-anticipated EP. Evol Walks is known for its raw energy and...