Daniel de Boer isn't just making tunes; he's orchestrating miniature global summits set to music. "The Turnaround," his EP, does not really feel like a collection of songs. Instead, it is more like a rack of postcards from faraway friends, all sent from a studio in Berlin. Produced alongside Shakthi Prasad, this six-track offering pulls together musicians from an impressive roster of nations – Russia, Argentina,...

Lessons in Crime’s new single, "Reply ASAP," bounces along with the kind of infectious energy you’d want for a summer road trip, but it’s a smokescreen for a uniquely modern state of inertia. It feels less like a rock song and more like one of those old pneumatic message tubes from a 1940s department store—all zip and kinetic energy on the outside, but inside,...