Okay, let’s talk about Blofeld Sands, straight out of Brighton with a debut single, ‘People.’ That's the title, folks, not a directive. I mean, it kind of is, though, isn't it? When I first hit play, it wasn't the jangly guitars or the precisely placed drum fills that snagged my ear, but that singular word echoing in the verses: “loving people”. A simple phrase,...

Take Jack Horton, a Portland-based singer-songwriter whose path to folk-Americana included stops at Japanese law school, Tokyo piano bars, corporate boardrooms, and government offices. His latest EP, "Imperfections," feels like finding someone's private journal set to music. And that someone happens to write really, really well. The five-song collection opens with "Set Me Free," a piano-driven confession that might surprise anyone expecting typical breakup bitterness. Horton...