On his expansive new single “Pieces,” Vancouver Island songwriter WiL confronts the quiet clutter of a fractured life and turns the debris into gold. Anchored by his deep, velvety vocals and fiercely idiosyncratic guitar work, the track begins in a state of brooding contemplation, moving with the cautious gravity of someone testing thin ice after a hard winter. https://open.spotify.com/track/1Ad1WMvlke4vTKEkSO8AfE?si=4fd67168e9a94a63 What begins as an insular alt-folk meditation...

Listening to Violet Whimsey’s new EP, “PERSEPHONE,” is a bit like finding an antique music box that only plays minor chords. You wind it up, expecting a delicate tune, but what emerges is something far more shadowed, intricate, and possessed of a strange, chilling beauty. This is dark pop that doesn’t just brood; it excavates. https://open.spotify.com/album/0mrzzMpWVM7kKEWam6vTQP?si=D4ysByaOQCOEwElRdWm0Bg The collection is a descent, a guided tour through various...