Ava Valianti captures the agonizing, beautiful purgatory of sixteen on her new single, "Sophomore Slump". The Newbury, Massachusetts songwriter has tapped directly into the crushing gravity of adolescence, a phase where a trivial misstep somehow fractures your entire psychological reality. https://open.spotify.com/track/20fIdhi8sFspbb6FAzHXCr?si=27a8aa904ccb4a5b There is a distinct, humiliating vulnerability in breaking down in front of someone else. You desperately crave the safety of their connection, yet you burn...

There are so many internal wrestling fights that they would make experienced boxers wince. Gospel singer Gerren Lavey from Texas knows this better than most, and his new song "Soul War" is both an admission and a call to arms. Lavey, who used to go by the name J The Producer, has been making music for over twenty years and brings that knowledge to this very...