If one were to immerse themselves in the environment of modern popular music, one would find that there is a dynamic and broad assortment of voice expressions. On rare occasions, though, one person may rise from the middle of multiple voices with great clarity and charisma, compelling others to listen to what they have to say. Katie Belle is making waves with her entrancing new...

Blind Man’s Daughter has constructed something peculiar with the single “Harbor Boulevard,” a song that feels less like a piece of music and more like discovering a perfectly preserved room from a house that no longer exists. Ashley Wolfe’s project here builds a world with the clean, approachable architecture of country-pop, yet there’s a strange dust mote shimmer in the air—those cinematic flourishes—that catches...