South African-born, London-based pop artist Lola Audreys has condensed the fleeting magic of youthful spontaneity into her new single, "Summer On A Sunday." Her childhood spent on a rural farm clearly lends a grounded, almost unsettlingly raw emotional honesty to an immaculate piece of modern synth-pop. https://open.spotify.com/track/4sPRSaHTIRtsHLqT5KEQwQ?si=kClwhH4aRP68qg4yS94Mqg The track operates on a steady, driving pulse beneath bright, highly rhythmic sequences. Those shimmering, bubbly melodic lines bounce...

Maverick Smith’s “We Make Fire, They Make Smoke” lands not with a thud, but with the distinct, satisfying crackle of something catching alight. It’s a title that carries the grit of the Ohio Valley in its consonants, a resolute statement from a band – Paige Bosic on commanding vocals and rhythm guitar, Sean Boynes sculpting soundscapes on guitar, Jim Courtney’s intricate drumming, Charlie Kovach’s...