Ava Valianti represents something increasingly rare in contemporary music: genuine precocity without artifice. This Massachusetts artist, who is only fifteen years old, handles general themes with a level of emotional depth that is shocking. She shows that youth can bring out the best in complicated human experiences, rather than hiding them. "Distant," her sixth single, functions as a sonic archaeology of friendship's dissolution. The track excavates layers...

Oshawa, a town pulsating with industry, is the birthplace of exceptional talent such as Ryan Wayne. Growing up in this town, with a father who drove trucks by day and penned songs by night, Ryan was nurtured in a home where melodies intertwined with memories. Summer escapes to the family cabin in the Madawaska Valley provided the backdrop for gatherings that sowed the seeds of his...