Cinnamon Rayne’s single “Caroline” doesn’t drift into your ears; it materializes, like damp chill seeping through a window frame you thought was sealed. This isn't the hazy comfort some dream pop offers. Oh no. This Rochester songwriter has brewed something far more unsettling, an urgent plea cloaked in eerie synth washes and vocals that hover with genuine concern, maybe even panic. https://open.spotify.com/album/3mnoY7Hz9lxIDtFfRE3mJB?si=xWTzRM53Q1yoohZTNzdwGA The sound itself is...

The latest from Jacob and the Starry Eyed Shadows, “Racing on the Back Straight,” performs a fantastic trick: it dresses up a full-blown existential crisis in its summer best and sends it to the beach. This Glasgow solo architect, Jacob, has constructed a Trojan horse of a track, all propulsive indie rock guitars and a pop-punk chorus so immediate it feels like you’ve known...