Anxiety gets a body, a corner and a countdown on IamSnap’s "Last Round". The Australian hip-hop artist turns depression and anxiety into a live opponent, then refuses to give that opponent the final word. Featuring Lydia Caesar, this new single runs on friction: blunt rap passages that name procrastination, self-doubt and creative paralysis, followed by a chorus that reaches for daylight without pretending the fight has...

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...