Bottara did not rush Bit Longer into the feed. She carried the song for years, took it from London to Los Angeles, and kept returning until the record could hold her earlier and present selves in the same frame. That patience gives this Bottara single review its hook. The track is not framed as a glossy debut-day rush. It is a held glance, a groove...

Sam Ostler’s new single, “Lights,” then. It unfolds less like a sudden, intrusive glare and more like the slow, determined burn of a really good stage light finally finding its mark after a prolonged blackout. It’s pop, yes, vibrant and undeniably contemporary as advertised – clean lines, clear intentions. Yet, there’s a certain satisfying heft beneath the melodic uplift, a feeling that these notes...