Maverick Smith’s “We Make Fire, They Make Smoke” lands not with a thud, but with the distinct, satisfying crackle of something catching alight. It’s a title that carries the grit of the Ohio Valley in its consonants, a resolute statement from a band – Paige Bosic on commanding vocals and rhythm guitar, Sean Boynes sculpting soundscapes on guitar, Jim Courtney’s intricate drumming, Charlie Kovach’s...

Clare Easdown’s new single, "Lipstick On My Restraints," doesn't arrive so much as it materializes, spitting glitter and venom in the face of polite society. This is the sound of a patient hijacking the asylum’s PA system, a furious and fiercely glamorous reclamation of a narrative. It’s a track that feels less written and more clawed into existence, forged in the friction between imposed...