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...

Imagine now that there is a voice telling you about this very transformation, one note at a time. Noora Alho, better known simply as Noora, is the artist behind the uplifting new song "Butterfly." Noora was born in Finland to a British mother and a Finnish father. Imagine that you are encased in a feeling that is equal parts vulnerability and eagerness and that you...