There is a strange gravity to those who seem entirely unbothered by the weight of expectation. They move through rooms with a careless grace, leaving a trail of minor disruptions that somehow only add to their charm. It is a phenomenon well documented in the annals of pop culture, from the brooding rebels of mid-century cinema to the unkempt guitarists of the early two-thousands indie sleaze...

Millie Mountain’s "Tools" arrives with its guard up and its windows open. This three-track EP puts mental overload, social violence, harmful relationship patterns and the hunt for happiness in the same small room, then allows each concern room to breathe. For a new music release working across experimental R&B, neo-soul, trap soul and Afrobeats, it is a direct and emotionally alert statement. Mountain has already shown...