After the calls stop, the hardest part of a breakup is rarely being alone. It is the administrative problem of feeling: how does someone proceed after an old future disappears? Astian’s new single “How” holds that question there. It does not rush to fill it with a lesson, confession, or the sort of gleaming finality pop often prefers. Astian approaches the aftermath through a playful, stripped-back...

There’s a curious sort of old-soul gravity to Amelina’s single, “Step by Step,” one that defies the pop-rock sheen and the artist’s young age. The track opens with a resolute, almost stern, string and piano line that feels less like an invitation to a party and more like the sound of someone tying their shoelaces before a long journey. This is the sound of...