Most music that arrives with the label “meditative” feels like an instruction to relax—a gentle but firm command. Karen Salicath Jamali’s “Angel Gabriel’s Light,” however, doesn’t instruct; it simply arrives. Listening to this single for the first time is like walking into a room to find the light has changed color, subtly and without explanation. You don’t question how it happened. You just stand...

Heïka, the rising star of the indie-pop genre, has sent a ray of sunshine into the Canadian province of Quebec's music landscape. The mesmerising soprano Andrée-Anne Bélisle and the evocative pianist Jo-Annie Bourdeau are at the centre of this project. Their unexpected encounter at the University of Montréal as jazz enthusiasts developed into a symphony of shared musical aspirations once they got to know one...