The music of multi-instrumentalist Spencer Zahn is marked by openness: spacious sonic landscapes, rich with contributions from his creative community. Zahn’s newest album, Sunday Painter, is a refined step forward for the New York City-based musician — a lush collection of instrumental songs that undulate along waves of jazz, ambient pop, Americana, and neo-classical — pulling from Zahn’s established musical background and collaborative ethos.
Maria Usbeck’s latest album, Naturaleza, is a bold new chapter for the always shape-shifting Ecuadorian singer-songwriter, diving deep into her singular realm of idiosyncratic pop music while retaining the observational, inquisitorial perspective that’s marked her work thus far. Usbeck’s third album for the Cascine label follows the striking debut Amparo from 2016 (which featured co-production credits from Caroline Polachek) and 2019’s expansive, exploratory Envejeciendo, which found Usbeck stretching her legs into the warm glow of 1980s electronic music and the spacious grooves of city pop.
