Night Wolf, collaborating with The Fods have dropped "Kickback", and it is a masterclass in holding two wildly opposing truths in your hands at once. The transatlantic indie punk collective Neil "Birch" Birchall, Alan Winn providing backing, Chris "EZ" Ranson, Paul "Ol" Collins, and Rob Critchley drastically shifts away from their usual territory. By teaming with UK-based producer Night Wolf, whose cinematic sound design...

Shawn Brown’s EP, "Into the Furious Light," doesn’t slip quietly into the stream of modern indie-folk releases; it instead cups its hands around your soul like you’re a candle in danger of flickering out. The Portland troubadour crafts songs that feel like fragments of conversations—maybe ones you walked in on too late or letters unsent to someone dear but no longer near. You’re never...