Crozier's new single, "The Dream," has arrived, and it’s rather like finding a surprisingly vibrant, yet faintly melancholy, postcard tucked inside an old, dog-eared travel guide for a country that might not even exist anymore. There’s an undeniable jauntiness to its classic rock bones – you can hear the phantom limb of a Wilbury shuffle in its gait, perhaps a smidge of early Kinks-ian...

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...