Gus Defelice. The name itself feels like a well-oiled machine – intricate, precise, and humming with a purpose I'm not entirely sure I grasp. “Starlight,” a lone single in a world of albums and playlists, pulses like a freshly discovered constellation. You know, the kind where they announce the official findings and then all the maps start printing with the new location…except this constellation...

The moment the jaunty guitar kicks in on John Smyths’ new single, "Now I'm Wiser", you feel a familiar, comfortable warmth. It’s the sound of a good chair in a bar where the floor is sticky with spilled truths. And then the story starts, a classic yarn of a hard-living past yielding to a peaceful present. Smyths, a Dutch ex-metalhead singing country out of...