There’s a certain expectation that comes with a new release from Kim Cameron. For years, the Miami-based artist has been a reliable source of high-energy, deep house anthems, music precision-engineered for the dance floor. Her name is synonymous with movement, with the kind of infectious hooks that have propelled her up the Billboard and iTunes charts. So when a new track of hers begins not...

Maraad’s new album, “BUFF”, is a strange and beautiful paradox, an object forged in the very fire it’s meant to protect you from. Each track is presented as a "buff," a bit of protective magic for the spirit, but the energy humming underneath feels less like a polished shield and more like the faint, determined glow around a figure in a centuries-old altarpiece—somehow both...