Some songs are like a time machine. You press play, and suddenly you’re somewhere else, some other time. Maybe it’s a smoky bar in the 1970s, a sweaty punk club in the 80s, or, in the case of “Oh Denise,” the new single from Ken Woods and The Old Blue Gang, a dusty dancehall on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, sometime in the not-too-distant past. The...

Gianluca Zanna’s new single, "You Are My Destiny," arrives with the polished sheen and unwavering confidence of a high-tech skyscraper. On a track featuring the soaring vocals of Claudette Lyons, Zanna, an entrepreneur with a background in self-defense, has built an anthem of absolute romantic certainty. There's a curious friction in that, isn't there? A man professionally versed in calculating risk and creating impenetrable...