Some doors do not close with a slam. They remain half-open, daring a person to walk back through them after the room behind them has grown small and airless. The past can be persuasive that way. It offers familiar furniture, old names, a version of comfort that asks too much in return. "Backwards, Baby," the latest single from Caitlin Kent-Halliday, begins from that human pressure...

Ivelisse del Carmen, a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter crafting sonic tapestries in London, has just released "Las Mariposas," a single that… well, it sort of feels like watching a beautifully choreographed dance between a raincloud and a sunbeam. A contradictory concoction that tastes great. Seriously, try doing that, rainclouds plus sunbeams, add milk, let me know what you got. https://open.spotify.com/track/4u3hpVdutakym3bnr7kW71?si=7bf8e465d5b6410d The theme, if you were to put...