Casey McQuillen’s single “Better” arrives not with a bang, but with the quiet, decisive click of a well-made lock securing a door. It’s pop music, certainly, groomed and gleaming, yet beneath the surface bubbles a fierce kind of self-possession that’s less about demanding attention and more about curating who gets past the velvet rope of your own contentment. Coming from someone known for empowerment...

Megan Wheeler’s new single, "Now That I'm Gone," arrived. Not via carrier pigeon, thankfully, though wouldn't that be a marketing strategy? No, it arrived in the usual, utterly un-magical digital way, yet somehow, managed to feel like a little explosion of confetti made of pure, defiant self-respect. https://open.spotify.com/track/2m3tz4bSNELxdIbTjRWc92?si=546c28793c4443bc This isn't your typical "woe-is-me" breakup ballad. Wheeler, often drawing favorable comparisons to the songwriting queens, that Holy...