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...

With Deptford Sound Collective dropping "Give Me . Give Me . Give Me, I want it all", I found myself suspended somewhere between a Studio 54 dancefloor and a gritty picket line. It’s a jarring, delightful confusion. You expect the somber acoustic strumming of 1960s activism given the collective’s mission but instead, you are slapped awake by a wall of 1980s synth-pop. https://open.spotify.com/album/6ULaYdVEhxN7eK0w9AmHtL?si=qiJmIM0oR2GlZ7uC8idmyw The track hits...