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...

Right then, Livvy Lauren. “Felt Love”. A single, a dispatch from the heart’s erratic GPS, apparently. This isn’t a slow burn; it’s a sun-flare. That first thrum of a connection, bottled, shaken, and sprayed all over the dance floor. Kent, huh? Always seemed like a place where secret drum and bass anthems might be brewing. I picture it now: rolling hills meeting synth waves,...