Being compared with an ex is bad enough. Being compared with one over a driving electronic beat is Cameron’s answer. “Love Me Like Your Ex,” the 23-year-old Nashville pop artist’s single, turns a dating frustration into a compact, club-ready rush. The title gives away the provocation, but the record has a smarter hook than simple resentment: it asks what happens when a current relationship starts...

Flavor Wave’s single, “The Optimist,” arrived less like a declaration and more like someone tentatively drawing back a dusty curtain on a grey afternoon. From West Chester, PA, these five lifelong friends – Kyle Loedel (vocals, lyrics), Matthew Stretch (lead guitar), Patrick Blair (rhythm guitar), Noah Montgomery (bass), and Joshua Speaker (performer/drums) – typically tread alternative rock paths nodding to influences like The Strokes....