Jon Young

EDITOR’S NOTE: Kate Prascher's Shake The Dust came out Aug. 30. We’re reviewing it now as part of a year-end round up of some of the best albums we missed along the way this year. “How sad and how sweet” is the sound of Kate Prascher’

Nick Carpenter doesn’t do things halfway. The Georgia-bred singer-songwriter, who performs as Medium Build, transforms small moments into big events in widescreen pop songs, yet retains a striking sense of intimacy. His talent was on full display earlier this year in the album Country, which doesn’t sound like

Feeling stressed by the modern world? Haley Heynderickx is too. The Portland, Oregon folkie has plenty to say about the unhealthy, attention-deficient lives many lead today on the absorbing Seed of a Seed, her first album in more than six years. Heynderickx is no mere scold, though. This thoughtful singer-songwriter

Joy Oladokun has some things she needs to say. The charismatic folk-pop artist, whose website describes her as “first generation daughter of Nigerian immigrants and proud queer Black person,” has seen her profile rise dramatically in recent years, thanks in part to 2023’s winning Proof of Life. But that’

“You’ve been so hard on yourself / It’s time to let things soften,” murmurs Julian Taylor on “Weighing Down,” the haunting leadoff track on his new album, Pathways. A veteran singer-songwriter with more than two decades’ experience, this soft-spoken Canadian might be the best unlicensed therapist you’ll ever