Amara-Fe has definitively shifted from the messy business of becoming into the absolute certainty of claiming with her new album, "A Queen’s Ambition". The rising solo artist, tethered to deep musical roots extending through Mission and Dallas, Texas, arrives fully formed here. There is a palpable weight to her cinematic R&B and electropop arrangements. You can almost feel her surveying her territory, setting borders,...

There's a beautifully urgent twitch at the heart of Lemon’s new single, "Let It Out!", the kind of coiled-spring energy that feels seconds away from either unravelling completely or launching you across the room. It’s the sound of a nervous breakdown finding its groove on the dance floor. This is the band's self-styled "Nedchester"—a funky, soulful export that seems marinated in Mancunian swagger and...