The Austin-based songwriter Alex Winters turns the terrifying act of emotional surrender into a towering alt-rock confession. There is a specific kind of silence that occupies a room right before a heavy truth is spoken aloud. It is thick, suffocating, and entirely self-imposed. We build fortresses out of our past traumas, stacking bricks of deflection and mortar of avoidance to guarantee nothing can ever hurt us...

At 2 a.m., the smallest thought can take over the room. Stargazer understands that escalation on Insomniac, a debut single that compresses insomnia, anxiety and emotional isolation into 2:27 of alternative rock, emo, electronic production and hip-hop-influenced delivery. It moves with the pace of someone trying to outthink their own fear, then finding that the mind has already sprinted ahead. The song refuses the easy...