You hear the first strike of the drum and instantly know this is not a history lesson. Folk music often gets treated with too much reverence, placed carefully on a pedestal where no one can touch it. Remon Nakanishi takes a completely different approach. He grabs these centuries old communal songs, drags them into the studio, and surrounds them with some of the most infectious...

Deleting a text thread is easy. Deleting the person who changed the meaning of a street, a guitar chord, or a quiet afternoon is another matter. That friction powers “Washed Away,” Laji George’s new alternative rock single, a four-minute release that turns the fantasy of erasing a former love into a pressure point. The New York singer, songwriter, and Pseutopia frontman borrows the premise of Eternal...