Some albums work fine in the background. Ray Johnson’s WaterColors isn’t one of them.

It’s hard to think about Halloween without thinking about “Monster Mash,” and Sheldon Mashugana has picked a fun way to put his own spin on the classic.

Most of us have had something go wrong that, years later, we’re glad happened.

Nobody expects an electric tenor ukulele to lead a rock band.

Some heartbreaks are harder to shake than others, especially when the person you love is with someone else, and you still haven’t given up on them.

Popkanon, RarriQUESO and Jack Flash’s “More to Give” is the kind of pop song that leaves you in a better place without asking too much of you.

Lacey Lune’s The Capital Club is a pop album that has quite a bit to say about the way we live today.

Maybe Love's A Crime” sees DownTown Mystic leaning into the kind of guitar-driven rock that never really goes out of style.

Certain instrumental pieces are better suited to being played in the background, whereas others have the effect of making you want to stop what you're doing and give them your attention.

“Lost Literature” by The House Flies has that slightly gloomy quality you expect from post-punk, but the song is much more immediate than the genre can sometimes be.

“Wild Woman Greek Isles” by Saint Kyriaki is not the kind of EDM track that simply gives you a beat and waits for you to dance.

Apeiron Bound takes progressive metal, orchestral arrangements, and cinematic textures and brings them together.

“You’ll Talk About It!” feels like the kind of EP that doesn’t need to spend too much time convincing you that it’s having fun.

"FEM." the fifth album from Stockholm-based artist Peter Ehrling’s Me & Melancholy project, is harder to pin down.

Dorian has never seemed too interested in staying in one musical lane. His latest album, “RECONNECTED,” brings all of those sides together while still feeling like a very personal project.

She writes it like someone who has already walked through the worst part and finally realized she has nothing left to lose.

After nearly a decade away from music, Wise has come back with a project that seems less interested in looking backwards and more interested in figuring out how to move forward.

Some debut EPs feel like an artist testing the waters. Mary Tuttle's "God in the Wild" doesn't feel like that at all.

Inspired by Blair’s mother and grandmother, the song starts from something deeply personal but slowly opens into a much bigger idea.

Some songs try to grab you right away. "Dream" does the opposite. It opens slow, almost hesitant, and lets you sit in that hesitation instead of rushing you toward a hook.