Earl Patrick pivots sharply away from his usual indie-folk and guitar-driven comfort zones for his newest release, the wildly inventive album "Conditioned By Machines". The Portland, Oregon-based composer, singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has spent over two decades building a dense, eight-album catalog. Here, however, he entirely flips the script. Feeling that classical flute music too often prioritizes gesture over pure melody, he set out...

Cat Cork, hailing from Woy Woy, just dropped "Promise Me," a single that feels like finding a lost photo tucked in the back of an old book. It's indie folk, yes, but not the type that’s content just being strummed on a porch. This one carries a weight, a quiet dread almost. It's about the choices we make when fear gets a bit too...