Ultan’s single, "The Tempest," erupts not so much into the room as it does through the floorboards, dragging with it the scent of wet wool and imminent confrontation. This Dublin solo musician, a cartographer of past agonies, presents an energetic rock piece that feels less like a song about history and more like a fragment of it, throbbing and urgent. The main riff careers...

In the crowded arena of modern hip-hop, where declarations of power are often measured in decibels and dollar signs, Exzenya’s “International Power” operates on a completely different axis. It is a calculated, composed, and deeply psychological piece of work that feels less like a song and more like a demonstration. This is power as understood by a behavioural scientist: a force that is engineered, not...