"America" from Dave Clark drops like a chipped ceramic mug onto a linoleum floor, not exactly a bang but you feel the thud. It's not about sparkly flag-waving; that much is clear from the first plucky guitar notes. It’s a story woven in threadbare folk chords and tinged with the static hum of some plugged-in grief. https://open.spotify.com/track/7nSYreI8IQDkOgvGjTvjwy?si=bbfaa8073f824d01 There's a man in this track, though you never...

Ludwig Jonsson, hailing from Jönköping, Sweden – a place I once imagined was solely populated by competitive furniture assemblers – has unleashed "Anybody Out There," a single that slams into you like a rogue shopping cart on a downhill slope. It's hard rock, sure, but it's got this texture, like sandpaper dipped in honey. https://open.spotify.com/track/4Dulb3Cng8qV360NJFtEBr?si=dMYRbliySw6ImpUIoMQ8Cg Jonsson, the one-man army of sound, crafts everything in his home...