Listening to Arnold J.’s new single, "Muddy Waters," isn't quite like anything else swirling around right now. It arrives with the gentle insistence of incoming tide, pulling you into its specific gravity. Arnold J., Ghanaian-born and now Canada-based, weaves a sound tagged as alt-country and folk, but those labels feel thin, like trying to contain smoke. There’s earthiness, sure, but his soulful vocal lines...

Kharise Williams, also known as K Soul, is emerging as a star in the ever-evolving fabric of global music. K Soul blends the pulsating rhythms of her Ghanaian and Jamaican origins with the edgy sounds of London's metropolitan milieu. Her most recent single, titled "Eye Talk," is more than simply a song; alternatively, it is a manifesto of high vibrations and a courageous stance against anything that...