It is that quiet, heavy atmosphere of a late-night car ride when the radio is low and someone finally says what they have been holding back for months. That specific, chest-tightening honesty is exactly what French rapper Lil' Mike has managed to capture on his Valentine's Day single "Yah." Stepping away from the aggressive hip hop beats that built his name, he delivers a late-night R&B...

Some songs arrive with a chorus built for the group chat. Shannon Darcy’s ‘Treasures and Gold’ comes in closer. This alternative pop rock single centres on a far less tidy feeling: caring about somebody who has repeatedly made you feel unwanted, then realising that their behaviour cannot keep writing your value for you. ‘Treasures and Gold’ shifts Darcy from the defiant heat of "Control Freak" into...