If the Pac-Man arcade cabinet at the corner of a musty Scottish pub could talk, it might recount something akin to Rok's self-titled odyssey. Nigel Dunn, the one-man conductor behind this electrified locomotive, paints in phosphorescent streaks of emotion while clutching an aesthetic pulled straight from the neon abyss of ’84. Yet, “Rok” isn’t content with cosplay. No, this album doesn’t merely wear the...

The Nashville singer Jordan Kinsey gives the Etta James classic electric guitar grit, vocal heat, and a clean sense of grown-up longing. Jordan Kinsey does not rush the feeling on "Sunday Kind of Love." She lets it lean back, breathe, and check its own pulse. That choice is the hook. In a time when romance can be announced, muted, archived, and quietly deleted before brunch, Kinsey...