There's a curious jolt in hearing a title like "Us Against The World" from an act called The Cockney Cowboy. The name itself is a glorious contradiction, a pairing of gritty East London reality with the wide-open romance of Nashville. You half expect a joke, but what Justin Vella delivers is a dead-serious, straight-shooting country ballad that smells less of hay bales and more...

There is more to Rosina Buck's story than just music. There is also a story of change. She broke the silence with "Like a Lion," a song about an artist who turned her problems into wins and showed that making art can be the deepest form of revolt. She has turned her problems into victories. For six years, this tune has been being worked on. It's...