Marie Chain and "Holy Water" come at a time when the lines between styles of music are becoming less natural. For more than ten years, the Berlin-based artist has been making what she calls "Global Soul," and her newest song shows why that term is so perfect. The track's origin story reads like something from a travel journal. Chain conceived the melody during a summer hike...

Three hours. A producer building a beat in real time. An artist on the couch writing melodies and most of the lyrics before the session is over. That is the engine behind Nicosongs’ "In My Mind", the Melbourne artist’s original contemporary R&B single. It is an origin story with momentum, and it suits an artist drawn to records that carry emotional depth while still giving people...