On the digital single “Stay a While,” Neon Diffraction the electronic project helmed by producer Rupert Goddard teams up with Fenton King to pull off a curious paradox: making a furious 174 BPM pulse feel like an unhurried sanctuary. Liquid drum & bass so often hungers for relentless forward travel, yet this piece asks you to linger. It plants King’s expressive, blues-inflected vocal delivery...

Janet Devlin’s new single, “Houston,” arrives as a gleeful contradiction, a two-stepping Americana anthem for the sovereign state of one. It has all the upbeat, country-rock fixings for a roadside sing-along, yet its heart is miles away, floating in a self-imposed, wonderfully stubborn vacuum. The track opens, and you’re ready for a communal good time; instead, you find yourself at a party where the...