With the new album "Climax", Decadent Heroes captures the precise sound of an artist exhaling after holding his breath for an eternity. Italian musician Luigi Chiappini has spent years building this instrumental rock project, using his electric guitar as a leading voice. Here, he reaches the exact point of creative evolution where a player abandons the exhausting pursuit of external validation. He trades showing...

Fiona Amaka’s new single, “Cowards and Shadows,” doesn’t kick down the door; it slips the lock and vanishes into the night, leaving the chain on. There’s a particular London cool to this departure, a swagger in its disappearing act. The track's lauded Bowie-esque posture is immediately apparent, thanks in no small part to Andy Zanini's sharp, stalking guitar work. It’s less a gentle fade...