Good musicians often act as spokespersons for their audiences. Things they can identify with and have a complete emotional investment in. Such a performer is Mariaa Siga. The new single "Daaray Dunya" is out now, and it features her singing about the struggles faced by young people who, despite their bravery, find it hard to make ends meet but never stop believing. The singer stepped out...

Robin James Hurt’s “A Song, A Story Told” arrives with a sound you can almost run a thumb over, like worn corduroy. In an age of sterile, diamond-polished productions, this album is a defiantly handmade thing, tracked onto vintage cassette machines. The result is not a flaw, but an ingredient. A faint, persistent hiss breathes alongside the instruments, a ghost in the machine who...