Take Jack Horton, a Portland-based singer-songwriter whose path to folk-Americana included stops at Japanese law school, Tokyo piano bars, corporate boardrooms, and government offices. His latest EP, "Imperfections," feels like finding someone's private journal set to music. And that someone happens to write really, really well. The five-song collection opens with "Set Me Free," a piano-driven confession that might surprise anyone expecting typical breakup bitterness. Horton...

It's easy to see Edie Yvonne's story in her latest hit, "Girl Code," even though the scene is full of teen songs. Edie writes about the hard facts and unsaid rules of growing up at a time when life is dangerously balanced between having fun as a child and about to become an adult. That's not like Edie; her skills work just as well on set...