Okay, here we go. Buckle up, buttercups, because Yksopretty's "IT IS WHAT IT IS" just body-slammed my expectations. This Detroit native, apparently a herald of Michigan's new wave (whatever that sonic sorcery is), dropped an album that’s… well, it is what it is. Six tracks of futuristic trap colliding head-on with… the existential dread of having too many gold chains? Seriously, that's the vibe. https://open.spotify.com/album/1bka60jvXUj0dK5BGDSP9K This isn't...

Phoebe Huisman and the release "Inside" arrived in my speakers like the sudden, sharp scent of rain hitting hot asphalt familiar, grounding, and weirdly emotional. There is something unnerving about how accurately this collection of songs maps the topographical mess of being a teenager. Huisman, a singer-songwriter with the technical chops of a Distinction-grade vocalist and the heart of a poet, has essentially constructed...