Vanessa Carlton is one of the most tragically underappreciated singer-songwriters of the early 21st century. We have all heard her early aughts mega hit “A Thousand Miles” while shopping for toothpaste at the grocery store, or while waiting in doctor’s offices, but her post “A Thousand Miles” output has not reached nearly as many people as it deserves to. While her debut album Be Not Nobody is a perfectly pleasant, if grammatically confusing, piece of pop music, her sophomore follow up Harmonium showed Carlton really finding her own sound and embracing her gifts as a songwriter. Vanessa Carlton’s already released a lauded EP this summer, but debut of her fifth full-length, Liberman, will make 2015 one of her most productive years yet. Streaming below for the first time, Liberman finds Carlton looking back — and she does so over a gorgeous mess of synths and reverb-drenched acoustics. “We really wanted to spiral it out, to have it feel like a dream,”

"Some Kind of Dream" captures the exquisite fleeting moments between sleep and wakefulness - the midnight borderland of a lover's whisper and star-shot skies. The melting ballad and title track sets the tone for the 3rd album from singer / songwriter Penelope Sai, who has joined once again with Sean Mackenzie (piano), Jonathan Zwartz (bass) and Nic Cecire (drums), and the much acclaimed American artist Scotty Barnhart on horns. The 12 tracks include 7 stunning original compositions and 5 jazz standards. From the smooth cascades of Melt Away to the playful lines of Ave Guynemer this lush album curls up and unfurls with a delicious sway and verve.

Recorded in five studios in Nashville and nearby Franklin, Tennessee, The New Cool is something of a follow-up to Nathan East's self-titled 2014 album, though it's billed to the bassist and his fellow Fourplay member, Bob James. Like Nathan East, The New Cool is a Yamaha release. The label wing of the manufacturer also supplied the duo with instruments and enabled them to make this predominantly acoustic set of eight originals and three interpretations. Drummer Scott Williamson, percussionist Rafael Padilla, and an orchestra - with David Davidson as concertmaster - are all involved, yet they're employed sparingly and leave the spotlight to East and James. The album sounds like it was easy and fun to make - one can sense joy and deep focus in the interplay - as the material is predominantly amiable and laid-back. It's almost entirely instrumental, with East adding some occasional soft scatting, while Vince Gill drops by for the lone "proper" vocal inclusion on an elegant recasting of Willie Nelson's "Crazy."