With “Island Lantern Festival”, Tony Frissore manages to soundtrack a specific kind of mental vacation I didn’t realize I was overdue for taking. Ostensibly an instrumental nod to the Lunar New Year and the hopefulness of renewal, this piece operates less like a celebration and more like a gentle exhalation. https://open.spotify.com/album/3n43BcxSnavYKC0wt28GNu?si=E_50eQ_lQomyHT1RsD2Jrg It starts wet with the actual crash of ocean waves before slowly drifting inland. I...

The color of a worn-out teddy bear, the kind that smells faintly of dried chamomile tea and forgotten childhood adventures—that's what “Ma,” the new single from Jeán et Joie, conjures up. It’s less a song, and more an unearthed memory, one that's been tucked away so deep it almost feels like someone else's. https://open.spotify.com/track/27VCVxylhkNKIGLePpYkjS?si=KXDtxEOAQ9uHvremPfb4zQ Jeán et Joie, the American folk artist, lays down vocals as smooth...