The beat drops, and suddenly you are standing at the edge of a decision you cannot take back. That is the immediate, visceral pull of "Wide Open", the latest release from a group that knows exactly how to manipulate tension. It hits the ear not with a bang, but with a slow, deliberate pressure that wraps around you before you even realize you are caught....

Some songs arrive with a chorus built for the group chat. Shannon Darcy’s ‘Treasures and Gold’ comes in closer. This alternative pop rock single centres on a far less tidy feeling: caring about somebody who has repeatedly made you feel unwanted, then realising that their behaviour cannot keep writing your value for you. ‘Treasures and Gold’ shifts Darcy from the defiant heat of "Control Freak" into...