Listening to Amara Fe’s new album, "SHIFT," is a bit like finding a perfectly preserved suit of medieval armor that’s been custom-tailored by a high-fashion house. It is formidable, gleaming, and entirely without apology. Across the sprawling landscape of its 24 tracks, Fe builds a monument to self-belief so solid it could probably withstand a siege. There is no room for doubt in this...

With the release of the single "Play Me A Christmas Song", Stephen Dowd manages to bottle the very specific, blue-hued silence that falls over a living room once the wrapping paper has been cleared away. It is a curious thing, really, how a melody can act less like a sound wave and more like the smell of a candle that was blown out five...