Haugesund duo Mainstreet channel wide-open highways and bruised romantic defiance on their gripping single, "Living by the Sword." Hailing from coastal Norway, Glenn Kringlebotten and Magne Skålnes make music steeped in the dust-caked mythos of classic American heartland rock, evoking the stubborn, rolling momentum of Bob Seger or Bruce Springsteen. https://open.spotify.com/track/69zkx8pCYXF1BtjLunRfd6?si=daa781bbf62643d0 The track locks into an upbeat, mid-tempo groove powered by a bright, soaring lead melody....

The moment the jaunty guitar kicks in on John Smyths’ new single, "Now I'm Wiser", you feel a familiar, comfortable warmth. It’s the sound of a good chair in a bar where the floor is sticky with spilled truths. And then the story starts, a classic yarn of a hard-living past yielding to a peaceful present. Smyths, a Dutch ex-metalhead singing country out of...