Listening to Arnold J.’s new single, "Muddy Waters," isn't quite like anything else swirling around right now. It arrives with the gentle insistence of incoming tide, pulling you into its specific gravity. Arnold J., Ghanaian-born and now Canada-based, weaves a sound tagged as alt-country and folk, but those labels feel thin, like trying to contain smoke. There’s earthiness, sure, but his soulful vocal lines...

Listening to The Gilhoolys’ new single, "Bad Routine," is to feel the pressure of a low, grey sky just before it breaks. There’s a muscular, unapologetic rock energy here, the kind of sound forged in rooms with sticky floors and loud histories. It moves with a bruised swagger, the ghost of Thin Lizzy hanging around the edges of a decidedly modern indie rock angst,...