Since 2006's Ys, Newsom's albums have been so conceptually staggering that her simpler debut can seem juvenile by proxy. But it's still obvious why anyone who heard 2004's The Milk-Eyed Mender fell in love. Here, as her rattling harpsichord drives an urgent, anxious account of attraction and rejection, the sweetness of her voice and accompanying spurts of a children's choir make the hurt sting even more.
Morteza Khakshoor introduces female figures into his pictorial universe, expanding the emotional register of his psychologically charged scenes. Domestic interiors, uncanny landscapes, and moments of stillness reveal layered narratives and unresolved tension.