Kent Owens, a name that sounds like it should be on a library card next to “Hemingway,” but instead it's on the digital shelf next to my slightly messy playlist. This Cambridge-based creator of soundscapes – I’m resisting calling them songs, but…well – just released “Fade Away,” a single that feels like an open window after a long winter. It’s a soft rock hum...

There is a specific, agonizing silence that occurs right after you lay your heart completely bare. It is the vacuum of space before the other person responds. Swedish pop artist Sebastian Rydgren steps directly into that terrifying void with his new single, "Talk To Me". He does not offer a comfortable resolution. Instead, he forces the listener to sit in the unbearable tension of a...