Take Jack Horton, a Portland-based singer-songwriter whose path to folk-Americana included stops at Japanese law school, Tokyo piano bars, corporate boardrooms, and government offices. His latest EP, "Imperfections," feels like finding someone's private journal set to music. And that someone happens to write really, really well. The five-song collection opens with "Set Me Free," a piano-driven confession that might surprise anyone expecting typical breakup bitterness. Horton...

Elliot Minor, those British rock-revivalists, are back from a decade-plus slumber. They've re-emerged, instruments blazing, with their new single "How Does It Feel." You know, the ones who always managed to sneak a cello into a mosh pit? That's them. Five members, still kicking. https://open.spotify.com/track/67pBtCFIlV0yPrkuLJ4FzK?si=EtxH00rOTsiYJ4CYRQQhqg "How Does It Feel" digs into that gloriously messy space where outward success crashes headfirst into inner turmoil. They are painting...