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...

Robin Swann’s new single, “Flaunt You,” lands with the deceptive sheen of polished indie pop, but listen closer – there’s grit under its fingernails, a heart beating anxiously beneath the bright synth layers often crafted with collaborator Xander Lee. It captures that peculiar, stomach-flipping vertigo of falling headlong into a love that feels both utterly destined and terrifyingly risky. You know the feeling, like...