Towards the end of a long bout of alcohol and drug addiction brought on by the sudden death of his father, Ashton York has written his most vulnerable record yet – a distinctly wistful track, “Awful Time” (out July 15), that expresses deep sorrow both lyrically and sonically as he documents the consequences of a selfish lifestyle filled with self-harm, co-dependent relationships, and tremendous grief and sadness. York, a Bay Area singer-songwriter, explains that the song “was written at one of the lowest points in my adult life in which the self-pity and self-loathing I was living in took away from my ability to be there for others.” With brilliant candour and vulnerability, York bears it all, even in his most broken and beaten down state. The first verse of the song finds the indie ...