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...

As the name of the song implies, the purpose of this music is to improve your mood with each passing second and minute that you spend listening to it. Radwulf and Zero Sugar were aware of their roles in the song, and they played them to the best of their abilities. The music that has been given the moniker "Better" is the kind of song...