There is a peculiar friction to the digital textures of Skylarka and her new album, "Somnorine". It’s supposed to be chiptune-influenced synthwave, but listening to it feels less like browsing the internet and more like chewing on aluminum foil while watching Blade Runner on a CRT monitor that’s slowly degaussing. It’s a sensory contradiction bright, crystalline pop hooks wrestling with the deep, existential dread...

A house can be made from wood, stone, tin, red soil, or memory. In music, it can also be made from strings, shared breath, and the small pauses that let one culture listen to another without rushing to answer. Karoo's debut EP, "Casa", carries that feeling with quiet confidence. The title points toward home, but the record treats home as a living idea rather than...