Fleanger, an Israeli-born singer-songwriter-performer presently located in buzzing Berlin, has established himself as a genuine musical light. His creative persona emerged at an early age, putting him different from his Israeli music industry contemporaries. Fleanger's newest effort, "Better," aims to take listeners on an introspective journey on a roller coaster of feelings that will stay with them long after the music has stopped. His ability...

Some doors do not close with a slam. They remain half-open, daring a person to walk back through them after the room behind them has grown small and airless. The past can be persuasive that way. It offers familiar furniture, old names, a version of comfort that asks too much in return. "Backwards, Baby," the latest single from Caitlin Kent-Halliday, begins from that human pressure...