Allison Lorenzen's Tender paints an intimate portrait of learning to heal after heartache and turning those lessons into triumph. Trained as a dancer, Lorenzen brings dynamic movement to her compositions that create lush, imagery-filled sonic landscapes. The journey throughout the record — Lorenzen's first full-length, first solo and first self-recorded album — contrasts light and dark sentiments that parallel the highs and lows of her personal and creative process. Her songs juxtapose dissonance against radiating vocals, fuzzy guitar and synth with light touches of piano. Though "tender" has many meanings and layers of sentiment, Lorenzen weaves them together seamlessly into a dense meandering of images that invites listeners to create their own connections.

If you love Stevie Wonder as much as the rest of the world, you'll be absolutely enamored with this funky duo, which released its eponymous EP in December 2021. Patchydensefog comprises Julius "Bad JuJu" Henderson and Dan "Stanky" Swain, and — as if you couldn't tell by their nicknames — they are full-on funk and soul. After listening to just one song, you'll know why Bad Juju and Stanky cite the likes of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and James Brown as influences.