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...

Reaven's latest offering, "Something To Remember," barrels in like a sunbeam after a week of rain, a potent shot of pop-rock that dares you to feel something. It's a single, a little burst of focused energy rather than a sprawling landscape, and it gets straight to the point, doesn't waste time building up to anything, because there is so much to embrace today, that...