Okay, let’s tumble into Apryll Aileen's “Under My Tree,” shall we? It’s not your grandma’s sleigh-bell jingler, not by a long shot. Aileen, this classically-trained pianist, decides to cloak herself in a Christmas-themed R&B haze, like wrapping a finely-made watch in soft flannel. It’s the kind of thing that makes you tilt your head. https://open.spotify.com/track/6BBE2fTRte3f7HW7NZkTwm?si=JDkhIyolRLeIJS9r8m7PVA The song feels like staring at a snow globe, the tiny...

Love Ghost and The Skinner Brothers have dropped their new single, “Worth it,” and it arrives not so much with a knock as with the splintering crack of a door being kicked off its hinges. This is the sound of the emotional floor giving way. It’s a raw-nerved piece of alternative rock that scrapes at the psyche, possessing the same comforting quality as a...