Because we all struggle with the same things, we take it for granted that music will be easy to understand. A new song by Dre Carlan titled "Hope" was just released recently. In it, he recounts some of the more sensitive incidents that have occurred in his life. His parents struggled with their health while raising him as an only child, and it is the subject...

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...