Vie Jester’s new EP, ‘Masquerade’, presents itself like a costume box found in an attic that smells faintly of ozone and old, ambitious blueprints. This Los Angeles trio, typically weavers of their own heavy, harmonious rock tapestries laced with esoteric concerns, have opted for a different kind of unveiling: they’re trying on other people's clothes. https://open.spotify.com/album/0grUBCwpcgdKF29lBxWmLR?si=RTUUi7H3SC2oUUHu0TdHig A covers EP can be a curious beast. Here, Vie...

This single. This single. Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter and producer Omar has dropped "Better Be Lucky," and, well, I'm wrestling with a sonic octopus here. It's electric pop, sure, but it feels like pop that’s been put through a taffy puller of conflicting emotions. Did I just think about taffy? Why? Moving on. https://open.spotify.com/album/4qPGja59tO2IVMi2V2J79p?si=k7evvjeMSzKSkyfPV0m9AA The central theme – that brain-scrambling push-pull of a toxic relationship fueled by...