Owen Young, a mind steeped in the harmonies of law and fine art, unfurls “These Painted Flowers,” an EP blooming with the thorny beauty of the heart after the pandemic. It’s Americana, but not the porch swing kind—more like the kind where you stumble on a forgotten well, and peer in, seeing your reflection ripple back at you with new, confusing angles. These Painted Flowers...

There is a specific kind of exhaustion that comes from scrolling through endless bad news. It is a heavy, static feeling that makes it hard to care about anything. Then a track like "I Will Follow" hits your speakers and suddenly the air feels a little lighter. Jacob Chacko has managed to capture that exact moment when you decide to stop doom scrolling and actually...