Hearing Olivia Cox and her latest single "Made Friends" feels a bit like realizing your house is a mess and finally deciding that the laundry pile looks quite artistic exactly where it is. It is a soulful, strobe-lit confrontation with the realization that we rarely, if ever, actually have our hands on the steering wheel of life. https://open.spotify.com/track/0eIzAu5njSZeHhcqQQjTbZ?si=b4de856171c346b7 The track dives into the relief of surrender....

The room stays in the take. That is the first pull of Hurb Jephasun’s "In The End", a four-track EP that puts raw texture ahead of a cosmetic finish. The Perth-based Australian outsider artist leaves breath audible, lets the voice crack and gives the keys real weight. There is no gloss and no studio trickery trying to make the work behave. Instead, the release brings its...