GISKE’s "The Sound of Birdsong" doesn’t so much begin as it seeps into the room, like the pale, perpetual twilight of a Norwegian summer night where sleep feels like a theoretical concept. This is a song for the space between the last page of a book and turning off the light; a four-minute float in that strange, conscious stillness when the world is quiet...

Good musicians often act as spokespersons for their audiences. Things they can identify with and have a complete emotional investment in. Such a performer is Mariaa Siga. The new single "Daaray Dunya" is out now, and it features her singing about the struggles faced by young people who, despite their bravery, find it hard to make ends meet but never stop believing. The singer stepped out...