Janet Devlin’s new single, “Houston,” arrives as a gleeful contradiction, a two-stepping Americana anthem for the sovereign state of one. It has all the upbeat, country-rock fixings for a roadside sing-along, yet its heart is miles away, floating in a self-imposed, wonderfully stubborn vacuum. The track opens, and you’re ready for a communal good time; instead, you find yourself at a party where the...

A toddler clutching a kaleidoscope probably doesn’t fathom the full extent of the beauty whirling inside it. That’s a bit like encountering The Report’s latest EP, “Everything Life Throws”. Just when you think you've pieced together what’s happening, you shift it slightly, and new patterns emerge, forcing you to sit with its intentions a little longer. Hugo Allen and Jo Rogers didn’t craft an...