Audra Watt’s new single, “Livin’ It Up,” arrived sounding like a car stereo blasting down a highway you’ve never driven before, fueled by a full tank and a spectacular disregard for the GPS. This isn’t a polite suggestion to change your life; it's a three-minute rock-and-roll sermon on the glory of ripping up the map entirely, delivered with a voice that balances Nashville honesty...

DBsock, the artistic moniker of Mingwei Gao, arrives not with a gentle announcement, but with a complex, shifting statement in her debut EP, "The Journey". The songs on this album do not really feel like easy music. Instead, they feel more like a complicated guide that shows the way through internal territories. Gao is a singer, musician, producer, and creator who works in Los Angeles and...