Listening to Cuzoh’s new single, “Slow Down,” feels a bit like holding your breath without realizing you’re doing it. The Hempstead-born artist has crafted a piece so deceptively smooth in its Hip-Hop and Soul blend that the grim story coiled within it strikes you a second too late, like the aftershock of a distant tremor. It’s a ghost story told about someone who is...

Flavor Wave’s single, “The Optimist,” arrived less like a declaration and more like someone tentatively drawing back a dusty curtain on a grey afternoon. From West Chester, PA, these five lifelong friends – Kyle Loedel (vocals, lyrics), Matthew Stretch (lead guitar), Patrick Blair (rhythm guitar), Noah Montgomery (bass), and Joshua Speaker (performer/drums) – typically tread alternative rock paths nodding to influences like The Strokes....