Jalen Ngonda performs at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco on Sept. 14, 2024. Imani Sires/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — When Jalen Ngonda took the stage at Swedish American Hall, he was greeted to a long applause from a capacity crowd. Ngonda, dressed in a copper button-down shirt and…

Ray Lamontagne, “Long Way Home.” Ray LaMontagne likes to repeat himself. Maybe he always had. And maybe we just need him to because with each progressive lyrical repetition the message becomes clearer: He’s making an album that’s trying to penetrate the soul. Long Way Home Ray LaMontagne Liula Records,…

BALTHVS, courtesy Santi Pulecio. After listening to their newest album, Harvest, one might not think that the good musical vibes of BALTHVS could be produced by a bassist who only learned to play the instrument over the past few years, a drummer who purchased his first kit in 2020…

Phish, “Evolve.” Jam band Phish has been around a really long time. “As the band has evolved and the world has evolved, the fanbase has evolved with it,” Vulture wrote in 2019. Evolve Phish JEMP, July 12 8/10 Get the album on Amazon Music. The comment was prescient. but…

Kehlani, “CRASH” On one level, it’s Kehlani’s superb voice that’s the driving force of their latest album, CRASH. A voice that that stops a song from being background music and forces you to stop what you’re doing, lean in and listen. On another level, alternate level, it’s the lyrics…

Lindsey Stirling, “Duality.” Duality, the seventh album by Lindsey Stirling, is less about opposing forces – queens/fairies, serenity/surrender, purpose/untamed – and more about the spaces between them. It’s a collection of moments that work collectively to create a bit of what you might think of as world building. That…