Detroit alt rocker Stef Chura has been earning high praise since dropping her 2017 debut, Messes—from Rolling Stone (“15 Great Albums You Probably Didn’t Hear in 2017”) to Pitchfork (“Messes showcases her way with setting a twilit mood and her magnetic, mutable voice”). Her just-released sophomore follow-up (and debut outing on Saddle Creek Records), Midnight, seems to have critics on board, too. And it’s no wonder: Chura has one of those rasp-timbred voices that is at once fierce and compelling, and capable of issuing a full-throated scream without piercing the ears. Her music is pretty tight, too—rock that has a vague DIY indie quality. by Leilani Polk