With the release of the single "Play Me A Christmas Song", Stephen Dowd manages to bottle the very specific, blue-hued silence that falls over a living room once the wrapping paper has been cleared away. It is a curious thing, really, how a melody can act less like a sound wave and more like the smell of a candle that was blown out five...

Hampshire-based songwriter Kate Harding spins pure hindsight into shimmering indie pop rock on her new single, "THE DOPAMINE HIGH AIN'T LOVE". Finding her recording voice at forty after a health scare forced a reset, Harding wastes zero time mincing words. She takes aim directly at the intoxicating, painful trap of emotional manipulation. https://open.spotify.com/album/23thpH06WrBgGoBn2Z3lru?si=SMG5rKQiTp6R0b5WMyk78w The music tricks you beautifully. The melody relies on a bright, fast-paced rhythm...