Empty Pinata – remember LA Rodriguez? – serves up the single "Bonfire," and honestly, the air changes slightly when you play it. It’s less like passively listening and more like discovering a singed diary page fluttering down a quiet street. The music itself is this curious contradiction, wrapping harrowing emotional shrapnel in the comforting gauze of indie-pop, flecked with soft rock warmth. A strangely...

Peter Xifaras’s new album, “Adagio Grooves”, treats musical history less like a timeline and more like a room where everyone is invited to the same party. Initially, The Budapest Symphony lays out the fine china and polishes the silver, establishing a world of symphonic grace. It’s a sound full of discipline and grand, beautiful spaces—the kind of music that makes you feel you should...