There’s a comforting feeling in Jade Lilitri’s voice that everything can turn out to be okay. Much like a warm embrace through the speakers, Oso Oso have returned with their latest studio effort titled Life Till Bones. Lilitri opens the band’s fifth album with “Many Ways,” a somber reminder of mortality as he still grapples with the loss of his past guitarist, Tavish Maloney. The opening lyrics of, “I love you, but life is a gun / Do you remember when you used to have fun? / Keep in my mind when you turn to run / There are no ‘directions’, there is only one,” are well-crafted and hit their intended tone as each piano key echoes in the mix. The production on this LP by Billy Mannino is top notch throughout, and he puts the right emphasis on each lyric, guitar chord, and percussion to get the most out of each track. Oso Oso are the kings of lo-fi emo rock and they wear their crowns proudly on Life Till Bones.

Just when you think the days of surprise album releases are over, Oso Oso comes through in the clutch to deliver to their fourth studio album called Sore Thumb. This collection of 13 cohesive songs flows brilliantly from start to finish, and features a variety of tempos, feelings, and emotions throughout the record. The band is just coming off of their most successful (both commercially and critically) album to date in 2019’s Basking in the Glow, and had a lot of positive momentum going in their favor leading up to this album cycle. However Jade Lilitri, the only permanent member of the band, experienced a heartbreaking loss around this time last year when his touring guitarist Tavish Maloney passed away tragically at the age of 24. Lilitri does his best to honor his late contributor with one of this year’s best emo records, and one of this year’s best artistic statements to date.