Balwako’s new single, "Bitch Please," doesn’t so much arrive as detonate – a burst of queer dark-pop that rattles the windows of expectation. This Amsterdam artist, trailing a "Slavic boy-core aesthetic" and a flair for the theatrical, isn't just making electro-pop; he's staging a minor opera in under three minutes, all bass-heavy beats and a synth line that feels like a velvet curtain dramatically...

If the Pac-Man arcade cabinet at the corner of a musty Scottish pub could talk, it might recount something akin to Rok's self-titled odyssey. Nigel Dunn, the one-man conductor behind this electrified locomotive, paints in phosphorescent streaks of emotion while clutching an aesthetic pulled straight from the neon abyss of ’84. Yet, “Rok” isn’t content with cosplay. No, this album doesn’t merely wear the...