Harry

Folk music is a genre opposed to pomp, which is why it tends to eschew the epic. But Harry, a singer-songwriter from Chagrin Falls, embraces the elaborate on his debut, Something to Outlast Me, with seven-minute acoustic ruminations and instrumental flights of fancy normally reserved for Dream Theater LPs. "I do not want to alter any of my initial expressions, therefore the songs are kept at their original running time and are unedited," he explains in the album's liner notes.

But despite their length, Harry's tunes seldom feel overindulgent. Quite the opposite: His intricate instrumentals and winding ballads benefit from having the space to unfurl in any direction. With a voice that alternates from a plaintive yelp to a bloodless mumble, Harry sings mostly bitter, broken tunes that make Mark Lanegan sound like a Bee Gee. He even veers into restraining-order territory when describing a failed romance on "Six Years Gone" and "I'll See You Again." But if Harry's emotions sometimes get the best of him, they're just as likely to get the best of you.