TJ Howlett has officially ushered in the heavy, introspective season with his new release, "Easy Street". The Melbourne singer, songwriter, and early-90s grunge veteran bypasses modern polish altogether, choosing instead to steep himself in sultry, slow blues-rock that carries the weight of a smoke-filled room and deep-seated regret. https://open.spotify.com/album/6wLvX4vix5YygVOuQ7039p?si=aasK_0XHSAmhDNLFrh-aUw The title track maps out the murky topography of a rundown dive bar. We are observing melancholic...

SERAh's new single, "Favorite Game", which features female vocalist Summer Rona, is the kind of track that feels less like it was composed and more like it was captured—a distress signal from a beautiful, dying star. The sound here is a curious contradiction. It’s vast and cinematic, shimmering with the sort of synthesized light that promises galaxies, but its heart is small, cramped, and...