Take Jack Horton, a Portland-based singer-songwriter whose path to folk-Americana included stops at Japanese law school, Tokyo piano bars, corporate boardrooms, and government offices. His latest EP, "Imperfections," feels like finding someone's private journal set to music. And that someone happens to write really, really well. The five-song collection opens with "Set Me Free," a piano-driven confession that might surprise anyone expecting typical breakup bitterness. Horton...

Belgian multi-instrumentalist Jan Geysen pulls the curtains tight on his haunting new single, "Should I". Hailing from Brasschaat, the emerging slowcore artist acts as a one-man cinematic orchestra, handling every instrument himself to conjure a profoundly isolating, neo-noir atmosphere. He draws from the deep wells of Mark Lanegan and Leonard Cohen, carrying their heavy torch into a uniquely tender kind of doom. https://open.spotify.com/album/3jHtCQ4621ocGjlE1qsYmy?si=fyk9UTGkT7qDgxWF7cunDw The music thrives...