Listening to Shelita’s new single, “Fade,” is a strange and strangely comforting exercise in suspension. The track is built on a foundation you could almost set your watch to—a steady, pulsing beat that feels less like a drum machine and more like a medical monitor keeping track of something vital. Over this steady pulse, airy synths drift and gather like weather fronts, creating a...

Flavor Wave’s single, “The Optimist,” arrived less like a declaration and more like someone tentatively drawing back a dusty curtain on a grey afternoon. From West Chester, PA, these five lifelong friends – Kyle Loedel (vocals, lyrics), Matthew Stretch (lead guitar), Patrick Blair (rhythm guitar), Noah Montgomery (bass), and Joshua Speaker (performer/drums) – typically tread alternative rock paths nodding to influences like The Strokes....