Sam Ostler’s new single, “Lights,” then. It unfolds less like a sudden, intrusive glare and more like the slow, determined burn of a really good stage light finally finding its mark after a prolonged blackout. It’s pop, yes, vibrant and undeniably contemporary as advertised – clean lines, clear intentions. Yet, there’s a certain satisfying heft beneath the melodic uplift, a feeling that these notes...

Alds Fjóla, a musician who has been polishing her talent since the age of sixteen, lives and works in the lovely village of Borgarfjörur eystra in East Iceland. She's been in the music industry for a while now, and after years of playing with different bands, she's now taking the plunge and going solo. Shadows (2020), the forthcoming first album from Alds Fjóla, brings a new...