Balwako’s new single, "Bitch Please," doesn’t so much arrive as detonate – a burst of queer dark-pop that rattles the windows of expectation. This Amsterdam artist, trailing a "Slavic boy-core aesthetic" and a flair for the theatrical, isn't just making electro-pop; he's staging a minor opera in under three minutes, all bass-heavy beats and a synth line that feels like a velvet curtain dramatically...

The latest from Jacob and the Starry Eyed Shadows, “Racing on the Back Straight,” performs a fantastic trick: it dresses up a full-blown existential crisis in its summer best and sends it to the beach. This Glasgow solo architect, Jacob, has constructed a Trojan horse of a track, all propulsive indie rock guitars and a pop-punk chorus so immediate it feels like you’ve known...