Listening to the opening of Michellar’s "Truth Over Lies" is like being dropped mid-sentence into a conversation you desperately need to hear. This track, which features Frankie El, doesn't ease you in; it puts you on the "shaky ground" it sings about, a state of profound vertigo that reminds me of the low, anxious hum an old CRT television used to make just before...

Jessie Bird's new single, "Break It," feels less like a song strategically dropped and more like a personal diary accidentally left open on a park bench – specifically, one hailing from the clear-aired honesty of Camrose, Canada. The initial notes of this indie folk-pop track carry a disarming simplicity, almost akin to the unassuming hum of an old refrigerator right before it sputters out...