S.L. Houser (performance & record signing)

“I’ve been a woman on fire,” sings Sara Houser on the title track to last year’s Hibiscus EP, a surge of desire and determination for transformation wound tightly in her lingering vocals and the synth-scoured melody. The former Löwin frontperson’s solo emergence felt like an evolution, shedding her past and discovering a new self searching through Eighties-styled beats and poetically personal lyrics. The songwriter and producer delivers a deluxe vinyl version of Hibiscus with Spaceflight Records, which includes two exceptional new songs that delve even deeper into reflection, “When I Had Eyes” and “Grand Canyon 95.” – Doug Freeman