Listening to Arnold J.’s new single, "Muddy Waters," isn't quite like anything else swirling around right now. It arrives with the gentle insistence of incoming tide, pulling you into its specific gravity. Arnold J., Ghanaian-born and now Canada-based, weaves a sound tagged as alt-country and folk, but those labels feel thin, like trying to contain smoke. There’s earthiness, sure, but his soulful vocal lines...

Groove Vultures’ latest single, "Flytrap Love," lands with the subtle grace of a dropped toolbox – which is exactly its charm. This Melbourne quartet kicks up a glorious racket, a potent brew where garage rock's raw edges fray against punk's agitated pulse, all weighed down by grunge's heavy heart and occasionally flashed with a metal glint in its eye. It’s music that sounds like...