Under The Streetlights

Michael Marcagi’s 2024 viral breakout hit, “Scared to Start,” positioned the Cincinnati singer-songwriter as a heartland-rock hero in the making, and with his full-length debut, he marks his territory in a post-Noah Kahan landscape where humble campfire troubadours are free to indulge their stadium-sized ambitions. Under the Streetlights is a testament to his gift for channeling personal romantic dramas into universal anthems. “Don’t Include Me (American Dream)” may catalog the pain of seeing an ex settle into a life of happy domesticity with a new partner, but it’s delivered with the uplifting grandeur of a ’90s Britpop classic, while Marcagi’s repertoire of rollicking country-rockers (“I Should Know Better,” “Falling”) and stomp-clap sing-alongs (“Anna Lee”) make him a natural fit for the Stagecoach lineup. But even in his quieter moments, Marcagi’s songs acquire a cinematic scale thanks to his rich, lived-in storytelling, most notably on the acoustic ballad “Thanksgiving Eve,” a poignant portrait of small-town dysfunction.