Leon Blanchard, a name perhaps faintly echoing from the mid-noughties indie surge, returns not with fanfare, but with a solitary signal flare titled "Astronaut". Hailing from Grimsby, a town known more for its fishing heritage than its celestial aspirations, Blanchard's new song does not really feel like a return, but more like a personal gearbox picked up after years of chatter. In 2007, his old band,...

Listening to Chelsea Rebecca’s new single, “Little Girl”, is like finding a devastatingly honest diary entry tucked inside a brightly-coloured travel guide for a city you’ll never visit. It begins with the expected folk-pop intimacy: Rebecca’s silky voice sketching a scene so close it feels confidential. But the intimacy is a feint. This isn’t a quaint room for quiet reflection; it's a cage with...