Green-House: Royal Fern

From Music For Living Spaces, the debut LP by Los Angeles-based, non-binary artist Green-House (aka Olive Ardizoni), “Royal Fern” ripples with optimism, like sonic skipping stones toward the sun. “I’m trying to hit that part of the brain that’s affected by the emotional state that you’re in when you perceive something as cute,” Ardizoni says. “Cuteness and joy are gateways to compassion. It’s the gateway …

Innov Gnawa: El Ghaba

Innov Gnawa’s new seven-minute single “El Ghaba” emphasizes the group’s North African roots. Hailing from Morocco, now based in NYC, the band (Ma’alem Hassan Ben Jaafer, Amino Belyamani and Ahmed Jeriouda) focuses on a genre known as Gnawa (sometimes called “Sufi Blues”), qraqeb-based music with vocal “prayers invoking saints and spirits for freedom and liberation.” Daptone co-founder Gabriel Roth produced the group’s forthcoming album, Lila, …

L’Rain: Two Face

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist L’Rain (aka Taja Cheek) will follow her eponymous 2017 album with Fatigue this June. From the album comes “Two Face,” a complex collage of sounds that’s simultaneously chaotic and perfectly polished. The swirling song employs elements of R&B and jazz, with digital effects, crisp percussion and haunting vocals. The Brooklyn-based artist says, “This is a song about a falling out with a …