At 2 a.m., the smallest thought can take over the room. Stargazer understands that escalation on Insomniac, a debut single that compresses insomnia, anxiety and emotional isolation into 2:27 of alternative rock, emo, electronic production and hip-hop-influenced delivery. It moves with the pace of someone trying to outthink their own fear, then finding that the mind has already sprinted ahead. The song refuses the easy...

With DALE's new album, "Vertigo," you don’t press play so much as you unlock a door to a strangely familiar apartment, one where every room is a different state of mind. It’s a work of meticulous interior design, built from the sleek, moody synths that sound less like a tribute to the 80s and more like an artifact from a parallel version of that...