With “Island Lantern Festival”, Tony Frissore manages to soundtrack a specific kind of mental vacation I didn’t realize I was overdue for taking. Ostensibly an instrumental nod to the Lunar New Year and the hopefulness of renewal, this piece operates less like a celebration and more like a gentle exhalation. https://open.spotify.com/album/3n43BcxSnavYKC0wt28GNu?si=E_50eQ_lQomyHT1RsD2Jrg It starts wet with the actual crash of ocean waves before slowly drifting inland. I...

Fiona Amaka wrestles with the sheer, terrifying weight of human dependency on her sweeping single, "Anyway you come". The London-based singer-songwriter usually spins driving rock guitars and chill Americana into a tough, bluesy concoction. Here, she sheds the armor entirely for soft rock vulnerability. She is actively begging a loved one to stay, throwing logic out the window in favor of raw, undeniable need. https://open.spotify.com/track/6iYDS9dmAa0EPtIwVDj9g3?si=yJbYlmr5Tr-JEwMG2hIaJQ There...