With the arrival of Archers New Rival and their single "Direction", I found myself tracing the jagged line of a crack in my ceiling, letting the melody dictate exactly how much that imperfection bothered me. The track initiates with a deception a clean, resonant melancholy that feels safe before suddenly mushrooming into a thick, distorted wall of heavy texture. It reminds me, oddly enough,...

In the contemporary R&B scene, however, a fresh voice emerges from the Byron Bay shores in Australia. The first part of this year has seen the debut EP from Billie Skye – a 19-year-old prodigy - who takes her place as an emerging star with beautiful R&B moments. For Billie Skye, a person who grew up in a family where music flows through his veins; her...