Listening to Lucas Pasley’s new single, “Laissez-Faire Love,” is less like pressing play and more like easing into a worn-in armchair that has held the shape of a thousand thoughtful conversations. The title itself sounds like an economic policy for the heart, and frankly, it’s a brilliant one: a declaration of free-market emotional enterprise where partners are sovereign states, not colonies. https://open.spotify.com/track/1F6nq024Iy350xPVRxffIA?si=bYffZUblSyyCWPvf8dSBzA Pasley doesn’t sing about...

Right. So, Lillestrøm. Norway. Land of… well, apparently, intensely yearning folk-rock anthems now. Thomas And The Angry Hearts, shepherded into existence by Ronni Le Tekrø (of TNT fame, remember explosions?), have dropped "It's You," and the title isn't kidding. The whole thing is an extended, sometimes dizzying, ode to someone. https://open.spotify.com/track/29tj0tp8ydyTqXWuzvWEzv?si=7jGWO1lfQGWrz21iFr4kgA This isn't a casual, "hey, you're nice" kind of thing. This is full-blown, operatic (in...