Audren, the French multidisciplinary artist and self-described “good witch,” has released her new funk-pop single, "Smile, People Smile." The track arrives as the fifth preview from her upcoming full-length album, "Think Freedom." Instead of letting us stew in the mess of a disrupted world, she delivers a bright, highly syncopated remedy meant to shake off our passive waiting. https://open.spotify.com/album/1hLUUln8LHiAnIGBYdy9rM?si=utgL1M6VQpK4KxkFWDs7iw Audren rejects standard commercial formulas here, opting...

On "Mr. Know It All", the loudest person in the room may have the least to teach us. That thought gives Jack Raymond’s second album its bite. This Australian folk, roots and blues album review puts people at its centre. They carry family stories, dodge hard truths and live with choices that arrived before them. Raymond gives no heroic status to the title figure. Instead, he...