Maraad’s new album, “BUFF”, is a strange and beautiful paradox, an object forged in the very fire it’s meant to protect you from. Each track is presented as a "buff," a bit of protective magic for the spirit, but the energy humming underneath feels less like a polished shield and more like the faint, determined glow around a figure in a centuries-old altarpiece—somehow both...

After a lengthy career of working with others, Grey Tower Heights was created as a solo effort. Melancholy permeates the tracks, which deal with the loss of love, fragility, and our frail sense of self. https://soundcloud.com/grey-tower-heights Songs with haunting voices and rich harmonies boost the piano-driven, lyrically sombre, and narratively oriented compositions. In Grey Tower Heights, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and Nick Cave are among the...