Listening to Bloomfield Machine's new seventeen-track instrumental album, “Copium,” feels a bit like stepping into a terrarium during a quiet downpour. The title itself suggests a kind of modern, knowing self-delusion, the balm we apply just to get by. Yet, the music crafted by Huntington Beach’s Brian Kassan is far too sincere for pure cynicism. This isn’t the sound of giving up; it’s the...

Gianluca Zanna’s new single, "You Are My Destiny," arrives with the polished sheen and unwavering confidence of a high-tech skyscraper. On a track featuring the soaring vocals of Claudette Lyons, Zanna, an entrepreneur with a background in self-defense, has built an anthem of absolute romantic certainty. There's a curious friction in that, isn't there? A man professionally versed in calculating risk and creating impenetrable...