Marie Chain and "Holy Water" come at a time when the lines between styles of music are becoming less natural. For more than ten years, the Berlin-based artist has been making what she calls "Global Soul," and her newest song shows why that term is so perfect. The track's origin story reads like something from a travel journal. Chain conceived the melody during a summer hike...

Ultan’s single, "The Tempest," erupts not so much into the room as it does through the floorboards, dragging with it the scent of wet wool and imminent confrontation. This Dublin solo musician, a cartographer of past agonies, presents an energetic rock piece that feels less like a song about history and more like a fragment of it, throbbing and urgent. The main riff careers...