50mething, the 58-year-old British independent solo artist, confronts global horror with disarming brightness on his jarring new single, "Gaza (on and on and on)". Hailing from Ealing, Paul Jenner an ex-dancer and former garden builder operating from his DIY home studio crafts story-based music that speaks directly to structural injustice. Here, he takes the endless, agonizing cycle of war and deliberately sneaks it inside...

There’s a peculiar, soil-and-metal chill to Rubanq’s new single, "Bury Me Deep." From the first few sparse piano keys, you’re not so much listening to a song as you are being lowered into its world—a quiet, frostbitten landscape where the roads are empty and the sun is just a rumor. The Swedish songwriter operates in that stark territory between grunge’s raw-nerve honesty and Americana’s...