The moment the jaunty guitar kicks in on John Smyths’ new single, "Now I'm Wiser", you feel a familiar, comfortable warmth. It’s the sound of a good chair in a bar where the floor is sticky with spilled truths. And then the story starts, a classic yarn of a hard-living past yielding to a peaceful present. Smyths, a Dutch ex-metalhead singing country out of...

Gianluca Zanna’s new single, "You Are My Destiny," arrives with the polished sheen and unwavering confidence of a high-tech skyscraper. On a track featuring the soaring vocals of Claudette Lyons, Zanna, an entrepreneur with a background in self-defense, has built an anthem of absolute romantic certainty. There's a curious friction in that, isn't there? A man professionally versed in calculating risk and creating impenetrable...