India, Aug. 24 -- I found Ryan Davis the way one finds a dark half-forgotten bar tucked between well-lit blocks: unexpectedly and with a distinct sense of having been living without something essential. A Spotify auto-play recommendation, a click in the silence of midnight, and I was suddenly trawling through Louisville's poetic underbelly, while still in my armchair. After 15 years of making music, Davis is having what feels like both a discovery and a gentle reckoning. Not a breakout manufactured by algorithm and marketers, but recognition earned one scratchy, unguarded moment at a time. His latest album, New Threats from the Soul, which he self-released in July, is earning critical acclaim. Yet he still works day jobs between tour dates,...