Ava Valianti represents something increasingly rare in contemporary music: genuine precocity without artifice. This Massachusetts artist, who is only fifteen years old, handles general themes with a level of emotional depth that is shocking. She shows that youth can bring out the best in complicated human experiences, rather than hiding them. "Distant," her sixth single, functions as a sonic archaeology of friendship's dissolution. The track excavates layers...

Alright, buckle up, because Nissu's Memories just teleported me… somewhere. Nissu, a Brazilian-born, Dublin-based pop artist, has dropped this six-track EP, and it's like opening a particularly well-organized, yet emotionally chaotic, scrapbook. https://open.spotify.com/album/6Kbr8PFQrTu0J2GmK8o5uz?si=AwyU0he-RWWnjgcxHeMQDw The EP, Memories, supposedly functions as an “open diary,” they say. He tackles love, friendship, that whole pandemic thing, and the general rollercoaster of being a person. But does it achieve being truly...