Violet Love has offered up an EP titled "Destined to Fail," and it arrives less like a prediction and more like a pre-existing condition, a medical chart for a soul that’s been diagnosed with itself. The DIY recording quality doesn’t feel lo-fi for aesthetics; it feels necessary, like these songs could only have been born in a sealed-off room where the air was getting...

Some pop songs are built for escapism. They offer a three-minute vacation from the weight of things. Paul Jenner, the creative force behind the musical project 50mething, seems uninterested in this kind of holiday. His work is consistently grounded in the here and now, tackling the social and political agitations of our time with a composer’s ear and a critical eye. His 2026 single, “You Can’t...