Milyam’s latest single "Intimacy" seeps out of the speakers like an expensive, custom fragrance slipping beneath a heavy velvet curtain. Drawing on a genuinely sophisticated aesthetic, she merges dark pop with the atmospheric crawl of deep house to chart entirely new territory for R&B. The low-end groove hits with tremendous physical weight. It throbs. It paces the room. Riding just above that heavy pulse...

When you hear the name Stephen Thomas, you might right away think of Charleston, West Virginia, or maybe his own genre name, "Universal" As a label, it does not feel like a neat box. Instead, it feels like an open field where hip-hop and alternative pop music mix. His most recent song, "Breaking Hearts," sounds a lot like that. It utilises sounds from artists like...