The Austin-based songwriter Alex Winters turns the terrifying act of emotional surrender into a towering alt-rock confession. There is a specific kind of silence that occupies a room right before a heavy truth is spoken aloud. It is thick, suffocating, and entirely self-imposed. We build fortresses out of our past traumas, stacking bricks of deflection and mortar of avoidance to guarantee nothing can ever hurt us...

Daniel de Boer isn't just making tunes; he's orchestrating miniature global summits set to music. "The Turnaround," his EP, does not really feel like a collection of songs. Instead, it is more like a rack of postcards from faraway friends, all sent from a studio in Berlin. Produced alongside Shakthi Prasad, this six-track offering pulls together musicians from an impressive roster of nations – Russia, Argentina,...