Okay, let’s tumble into Apryll Aileen's “Under My Tree,” shall we? It’s not your grandma’s sleigh-bell jingler, not by a long shot. Aileen, this classically-trained pianist, decides to cloak herself in a Christmas-themed R&B haze, like wrapping a finely-made watch in soft flannel. It’s the kind of thing that makes you tilt your head. https://open.spotify.com/track/6BBE2fTRte3f7HW7NZkTwm?si=JDkhIyolRLeIJS9r8m7PVA The song feels like staring at a snow globe, the tiny...

The title of Rusty Reid’s new single, "Attitude Change," has the sterile ring of a corporate warning, which makes the desperate, heart-on-the-floor plea within it all the more jarring. This is the sound of the final straw, a melodic ultimatum delivered while someone else in the room is looking at the baby, or the TV, or anywhere but at the person whose love is...