Casey McQuillen’s single “Better” arrives not with a bang, but with the quiet, decisive click of a well-made lock securing a door. It’s pop music, certainly, groomed and gleaming, yet beneath the surface bubbles a fierce kind of self-possession that’s less about demanding attention and more about curating who gets past the velvet rope of your own contentment. Coming from someone known for empowerment...

South East London’s Deptford Sound Collective tackles modern apathy head-on with "#StopRunning", an urgently glittering single that dresses political resistance in the irresistible groove of electronic dance pop. It feels strangely therapeutic to hear a heavy demand for societal compassion wrapped up in such a brightly syncopated, uplifting package. https://open.spotify.com/track/3K63bCMpRcwhbbnRNtD27H?si=lebV9XEGQvGqJKVMUAZrMQ Founder and driving force Ray Barron-Woolford leads this sprawling assembly of artists and campaigners into the...