There is a specific variety of artistic audacity required when Ferdinand Rennie approaches the microphone for "The Prayer". Most of us associate this David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager composition with massive duets two voices attempting to hold up the ceiling of a cathedral. Yet, Rennie has chosen to return to the track, stripping away the partner he had in his 2023 version to...

Nobody wants a neighbour who scripts their smile. Monique Maion puts that pressure at the centre of “Karen”, a Portuguese-language single. The Brazilian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist takes the familiar Karen persona, shaped by political debate and social media, and shrinks it back to the size of a real conflict: one person trying to dictate another person’s manners. It is a smart dismissal with baião at...