Three hours. A producer building a beat in real time. An artist on the couch writing melodies and most of the lyrics before the session is over. That is the engine behind Nicosongs’ "In My Mind", the Melbourne artist’s original contemporary R&B single. It is an origin story with momentum, and it suits an artist drawn to records that carry emotional depth while still giving people...

It takes a peculiar kind of endurance for Raw Soul to release "Still High...", an album that acts as a profound dissertation on life, mental health, and the sheer audacity of survival. By day, he is a practicing lawyer in Vancouver; by night, he operates as a fiercely independent hip-hop architect, handling every single step of the writing, mixing, and mastering process himself. He...