The latest from Jacob and the Starry Eyed Shadows, “Racing on the Back Straight,” performs a fantastic trick: it dresses up a full-blown existential crisis in its summer best and sends it to the beach. This Glasgow solo architect, Jacob, has constructed a Trojan horse of a track, all propulsive indie rock guitars and a pop-punk chorus so immediate it feels like you’ve known...

In the crowded arena of modern hip-hop, where declarations of power are often measured in decibels and dollar signs, Exzenya’s “International Power” operates on a completely different axis. It is a calculated, composed, and deeply psychological piece of work that feels less like a song and more like a demonstration. This is power as understood by a behavioural scientist: a force that is engineered, not...