Is everything a little too easy? Streaming apps and the iPhone were initially built as tools to serve us, but have quietly turned users into the product: checked out and profitable. But as design elements that invite choice shrink or disappear, so does active participation. Even Reels don’t require...

SPRINTS don’t do half measures. Even for a small in-store show—200 people crammed shoulder to shoulder, tickets snapped up long in advance—the Dublin four-piece treated the release of All That Is Over like a proper event. There were stripped-back acoustic versions or teaser sets. Instead, the band played...

There’s something quietly disarming about Concave, the debut album from Chicago-based singer-songwriter Delaney Bailey.  It doesn’t arrive making a big, declarative statement. Instead, it slips in gently, more like an invitation than announcement. The mood sets immediately through the cover art: Bailey...