There is a peculiar friction to the digital textures of Skylarka and her new album, "Somnorine". It’s supposed to be chiptune-influenced synthwave, but listening to it feels less like browsing the internet and more like chewing on aluminum foil while watching Blade Runner on a CRT monitor that’s slowly degaussing. It’s a sensory contradiction bright, crystalline pop hooks wrestling with the deep, existential dread...

Sean at the Hotel’s latest single, "I Didn’t Think About Noah," doesn't so much start as erupt, a frantic confetti cannon of art pop anxieties. It’s the sound of a mind racing, or perhaps the collective consciousness of every thirty-something who’s ever stared into the blue light of a screen and wondered if they’ve irreparably broken their brain. The track’s skittering rhythms and overlapping...