Listening to the new DownTown Mystic EP, "Mystic Highway", is a bit like finding an old, perfectly worn-in roadmap in the glovebox of a brand new car. It has the feel of something essential, something foundational, yet it’s being used to navigate a landscape of blindingly modern anxieties. Robert Allen, the architect behind this project, isn’t just playing classic rock; he's conducting a seance...

Natasha, out of K.C., presents her new single, “Life’s Little Tragedies,” and it’s rather like an old, slightly melancholic tune you half-remember, then it snags you. The folk-jazz-pop tapestry, woven with soulful cello and unvarnished acoustic guitar, creates an atmosphere that’s chill, certainly, but with an undercurrent that pulls you in to listen closer. https://open.spotify.com/album/1IZqhutFIL4aVNVMTH4h7m?si=rCWdvIjKSsqWV7ok9_aBzA The song unpacks how present pain—a romantic betrayal, the rotter—can yank...