Ada Johanna’s "Better" hits like the second after you decide not to send that long paragraph. The phone is still sitting face down, the emotion is still loud, but something has shifted, and the shift has a beat. Her debut single turns blocked-number energy into bright alternative electronic pop with breakbeat drums, airy synths, and a huge final lift. The Norwegian artist uses her debut single...

There are songs that sound like a place, and then there’s Neil Potter’s "Música El Idioma Del Amor," which sounds like a specific time of day in a specific place you’ve never been. It’s a curious creation, a sonic postcard from a parallel-universe Seville where the flamenco guitarist and the local rock progressive have decided to build something new on a foundation of pure...