There is a peculiar friction to the digital textures of Skylarka and her new album, "Somnorine". It’s supposed to be chiptune-influenced synthwave, but listening to it feels less like browsing the internet and more like chewing on aluminum foil while watching Blade Runner on a CRT monitor that’s slowly degaussing. It’s a sensory contradiction bright, crystalline pop hooks wrestling with the deep, existential dread...

Ben Heyworth returns with "Image of Roads (Montana Mix)", a track that feels like watching a blueprint suddenly sprout wings and take flight. Collaborating with the members of Minorplanet, Heyworth a man whose history suggests he’s been sketching the Manchester indie skyline for years revisits an older acoustic skeleton and wraps it in something far more sinewy. It is "urban folk" that has decided...