Caitlin Mae's single "House Sitting" slid into earshot less like a shiny Nashville calling card and more like finding a faded letter tucked inside a secondhand book. It’s labelled country, and the soft rock structure gives it shape, but the atmosphere? That’s pure, unadulterated heartache, distilled. Mae possesses one of those voices – technically brilliant, sure, but more importantly, emotionally transparent. You hear the...

Sam Ostler’s new single, “Lights,” then. It unfolds less like a sudden, intrusive glare and more like the slow, determined burn of a really good stage light finally finding its mark after a prolonged blackout. It’s pop, yes, vibrant and undeniably contemporary as advertised – clean lines, clear intentions. Yet, there’s a certain satisfying heft beneath the melodic uplift, a feeling that these notes...