Take Jack Horton, a Portland-based singer-songwriter whose path to folk-Americana included stops at Japanese law school, Tokyo piano bars, corporate boardrooms, and government offices. His latest EP, "Imperfections," feels like finding someone's private journal set to music. And that someone happens to write really, really well. The five-song collection opens with "Set Me Free," a piano-driven confession that might surprise anyone expecting typical breakup bitterness. Horton...

There is a specific, illicit thrill in turning off your alarm clock on a Tuesday just to watch the dust motes dance in the sunlight, and John Nicholas captures that exact frequency of rebellion in "Today With You". It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from him, and this return feels less like a polite knock and more like a friend throwing a pebble...