Silja Rós sends us “Letters from my past,” and it’s as if one has been handed a velvet pouch of smoothed sea glass, each piece a shard of memory polished by time. Listening feels like sorting through them, the Icelandic musician’s neo-soul and pop songwriting unfurling narratives from what must be deeply personal old diaries. There’s an intimacy here akin to deciphering faded ink...

Three hours. A producer building a beat in real time. An artist on the couch writing melodies and most of the lyrics before the session is over. That is the engine behind Nicosongs’ "In My Mind", the Melbourne artist’s original contemporary R&B single. It is an origin story with momentum, and it suits an artist drawn to records that carry emotional depth while still giving people...