Silja Rós sends us “Letters from my past,” and it’s as if one has been handed a velvet pouch of smoothed sea glass, each piece a shard of memory polished by time. Listening feels like sorting through them, the Icelandic musician’s neo-soul and pop songwriting unfurling narratives from what must be deeply personal old diaries. There’s an intimacy here akin to deciphering faded ink...

When a German-born songwriter in his sixties filters his life’s rear-view mirror through authentic American roots music, you get The Cumberland River Project and the profoundly human new EP, "Meet Me In The Rain". Frank Renfordt acts as the absolute sole architect here. He is singing, writing, producing, and physically wrapping his hands around the acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, bass, mandolin, keys, and drum...