Ultan’s single, "The Tempest," erupts not so much into the room as it does through the floorboards, dragging with it the scent of wet wool and imminent confrontation. This Dublin solo musician, a cartographer of past agonies, presents an energetic rock piece that feels less like a song about history and more like a fragment of it, throbbing and urgent. The main riff careers...

Starlight Fantasy invites us into a very specific kind of neon-drenched solitude with "The Fire." Listening to this single feels like finding a warm spot in an otherwise cold, metallic room. This solo artist from Easley has built a dream-pop engine fueled by a driving rhythmic pulse that keeps you moving even when your brain wants to stall. It has a hypnotic, nocturnal weight...