Empty Pinata – remember LA Rodriguez? – serves up the single "Bonfire," and honestly, the air changes slightly when you play it. It’s less like passively listening and more like discovering a singed diary page fluttering down a quiet street. The music itself is this curious contradiction, wrapping harrowing emotional shrapnel in the comforting gauze of indie-pop, flecked with soft rock warmth. A strangely...

Listening to Shelita’s new single, “Fade,” is a strange and strangely comforting exercise in suspension. The track is built on a foundation you could almost set your watch to—a steady, pulsing beat that feels less like a drum machine and more like a medical monitor keeping track of something vital. Over this steady pulse, airy synths drift and gather like weather fronts, creating a...