Gary Mictian’s "All I Ever Wanted" has just zapped into my ears, and it’s like being handed a perfectly ripe, glowing fruit by a robot who might also be quietly plotting your emotional unraveling. This London producer delivers a single that struts with that tell-tale Hyperpop swagger; a beat so bouncy it could escape a child’s birthday party, a bassline with a satisfying, almost...

Listening to Violet Whimsey’s new EP, “PERSEPHONE,” is a bit like finding an antique music box that only plays minor chords. You wind it up, expecting a delicate tune, but what emerges is something far more shadowed, intricate, and possessed of a strange, chilling beauty. This is dark pop that doesn’t just brood; it excavates. https://open.spotify.com/album/0mrzzMpWVM7kKEWam6vTQP?si=D4ysByaOQCOEwElRdWm0Bg The collection is a descent, a guided tour through various...