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The quartet harnessed tension on its 2012 debut, delivering fierce, fuzzy pop songs that could be sweet or sharp, depending who sang them. On its second album, Swearin' is up from two singers to three, and the personalities at play are even more distinct.

Alabama-born singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield broke through to a bigger audience last year by releasing an aching, bare-bones solo album. Her follow-up album came out in March.

At 24, Katie Crutchfield has already had multiple careers as a musician. She broke through last year with an aching, bare-bones solo album — but the follow-up, Cerulean Salt, has roots in her years playing underground punk shows.

The Best Picture nominee about two musicians nearing the end of life uses music sparingly but crushingly.

The young trio performs "But I Do" without its usual drums, synthesizers and programmed tracks. But Now, Now still aims for a saturated sound against the bright murals at Austin's "Graffiti Park."

In few words, "Be Good" profiles two people who love and trust each other deeply, who share their dreams and secret shames, but who would rather shotgun beers together than make out.

When "Marathon Runner" begins, Alex Schaaf sings not as a homebound tinkerer, but as a frontman.

The soccer-crazy New York MC grew up in Ghana, and raps in English and Twi (pronounced 'trwee'). Listen to Blitz and his six-piece Embassy Ensemble perform live on WNYC's Soundcheck.