Flavor Wave’s single, “The Optimist,” arrived less like a declaration and more like someone tentatively drawing back a dusty curtain on a grey afternoon. From West Chester, PA, these five lifelong friends – Kyle Loedel (vocals, lyrics), Matthew Stretch (lead guitar), Patrick Blair (rhythm guitar), Noah Montgomery (bass), and Joshua Speaker (performer/drums) – typically tread alternative rock paths nodding to influences like The Strokes....

A glow-up hits differently when the hard years are still visible. Noëlle Rose builds “Born Lucky” around that exact tension. The 12-track soul-pop album takes the phrase “born lucky” and pushes against its easy meaning, putting love, bruises, recovery, and self-belief in the same frame. “In or Out” is part of that larger picture, a chapter about uncertainty in a record that asks what strength looks...