With the release of the single "Play Me A Christmas Song", Stephen Dowd manages to bottle the very specific, blue-hued silence that falls over a living room once the wrapping paper has been cleared away. It is a curious thing, really, how a melody can act less like a sound wave and more like the smell of a candle that was blown out five...

The Nigerian Afrobeat artist Froshdada turns vintage rhythm, street confidence, and club heat into a single that hits fast and stays loud. "GAGA" comes in with the kind of confidence that makes you check your speakers first, then your shoulders second. Froshdada is not easing anyone into the groove. He arrives with Lagos energy already switched on, the bass moving like a crowded Friday night, the...