Mercy Kelly presents "Out in the Night" as a sonic artifact that feels strangely heavy in the hand, possessing the density of a brass paperweight found on a detective’s desk in a noir film. The track arrives with a moody swagger, trading the gloss of modern production for a "raw northern grit" that sticks to your clothes like second-hand smoke. It’s a revitalized sound...

Geoff Westen’s album, “Music For My Friends”, thumps onto the scene like a dropped box of heavy disco balls – all shiny potential energy and the slight threat of chaos. It aims for that classic pop song euphoria, the kind designed to rattle car speakers and fuel late-night dance floors, an "aural assault" as Westen puts it. And it does pulse with energy, a...