Listening to Arnold J.’s new single, "Muddy Waters," isn't quite like anything else swirling around right now. It arrives with the gentle insistence of incoming tide, pulling you into its specific gravity. Arnold J., Ghanaian-born and now Canada-based, weaves a sound tagged as alt-country and folk, but those labels feel thin, like trying to contain smoke. There’s earthiness, sure, but his soulful vocal lines...

The New York City violinist and singer-songwriter Nevler packs Sequoia, Unfair, Sunshine, and Velvet with moonlit drama, bedroom closeness, and situationship fallout "A Handful Of Moons". Press play and the room changes size. "A Handful Of Moons" may only run for about thirteen and a half minutes, but Nevler knows how to make a short EP feel packed with messy texts, late trains, soft light,...