The fastest pop songs arrive like a notification. Ben Lester’s self-titled debut does something more interesting: it lets the listener wait for the message to finish forming. Across 13 tracks for Mayfield Records, the London singer, songwriter, performer and producer turns patience into part of the pleasure. The result is indie pop with an arranger’s discipline, a record built for people who like a chorus but...

A brief encounter can borrow from the future. A look, a promising night, a partly known name can become a stage on which the mind arranges scenes that have not happened. Jillian Marks builds “You’re Not Mine” around that private act of projection. The original single finds the Vancouver singer-songwriter returning after several years with a piano-led account of desire moving faster than knowledge. Its premise...