Forrest Hill’s "Flow Like a River" washes in, not as a gentle meander, but more like that quiet, insistent trickling that eventually, if you listen closely, carves new landscapes in the mind. This single, the apparent linchpin for his upcoming album "Beyond the Veil," feels like a hushed conversation you didn’t realize you were desperately eavesdropping on, perhaps with your own frayed inner self...

Bolidde's new album, Rainbow Galaxy, doesn't so much arrive as it does seep into the room, a ten-track document of flight powered by rock and roll muscle. Here is a veteran of the French scene who understands the architecture of a great pop hook, but who uses that knowledge not to build a summer villa, but a high-speed getaway vehicle. The album’s energy is...