“For a while” sounds harmless until it is attached to a person. Then it can mean avoidance, longing, hope, or the kind of half-promise that keeps a conversation open long after it should have ended. Joely knows the phrase has weight. Her new 3:38 single, takes that compact title and gives it a deeply personal frame. She has called “For a While” the most personal thing...

Being compared with an ex is bad enough. Being compared with one over a driving electronic beat is Cameron’s answer. “Love Me Like Your Ex,” the 23-year-old Nashville pop artist’s single, turns a dating frustration into a compact, club-ready rush. The title gives away the provocation, but the record has a smarter hook than simple resentment: it asks what happens when a current relationship starts...