There is a specific variety of artistic audacity required when Ferdinand Rennie approaches the microphone for "The Prayer". Most of us associate this David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager composition with massive duets two voices attempting to hold up the ceiling of a cathedral. Yet, Rennie has chosen to return to the track, stripping away the partner he had in his 2023 version to...

Helena May’s new single, “Side Effects,” doesn’t just enter a room; it strides in with the kind of confident, hip-swinging swagger that makes you instinctively check your own posture. This is Brit-Funk with a capital F, built on a groove that feels less like a rhythm and more like a wry, talkative companion. It’s got that specific, indefinable warmth of an old analogue recording,...