You know that feeling when a song drops and the entire room just stops talking? That is exactly what happens the second you hit play on the new Layla Kaylif record. It is a full-body experience that grabs you by the collar and refuses to let go. The energy is thick, heavy, and completely hypnotic right from the jump. The opening track pulls you in...

Nobody wants a neighbour who scripts their smile. Monique Maion puts that pressure at the centre of “Karen”, a Portuguese-language single. The Brazilian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist takes the familiar Karen persona, shaped by political debate and social media, and shrinks it back to the size of a real conflict: one person trying to dictate another person’s manners. It is a smart dismissal with baião at...