Bolidde's new album, Rainbow Galaxy, doesn't so much arrive as it does seep into the room, a ten-track document of flight powered by rock and roll muscle. Here is a veteran of the French scene who understands the architecture of a great pop hook, but who uses that knowledge not to build a summer villa, but a high-speed getaway vehicle. The album’s energy is...

Anacy's “Frosty” just landed, and honestly, it's like finding a lone, slightly melted candy cane in the back of the cupboard – a bit melancholic, oddly sweet, and intensely…there. This isn’t your standard jingle-bell affair. Anacy, who carves out these sonic spaces somewhere between indie-pop and, what? Festive electronica? It’s like wrapping Christmas lights around a synthesizer, I guess. They’re South African, too, which...