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...

There is a specific, humid type of danger lurking in Eshan Agarwal’s new single, "The Siren", primarily because it sounds so deceptively inviting. Most warning signs are neon red; this one comes wrapped in the sonic equivalent of a warm breeze. https://open.spotify.com/track/7BDTX2cjPkN89bVjxSbcfe?si=CPTE1wRiR6G7rNUGNH-XcA The track begins with a rhythmic plucking pattern, organic and tactile, almost like someone fidgeting with the hem of a shirt while trying to...