Emo indie pop legends Oso Oso released their newest album, “life til bones” that explores both love and death in one of their best albums to date. After their previous release “sore thumb” it seemed to be that everyone was interested to see what direction the band would take, and “Life till Bones” expands on the sound that was established on their previous release. Jade Lilitri is exceptional at describing complex emotions to those who have never experienced these feelings before which has been proven with past releases, and this album is no exception. While “Life til bones” seems like a natural progression for the band, it still maintains surprising elements sonically and lyrically. Produced by Billy Mannino who has worked with the band on their previous albums, seems to have reached a creative sweet spot with this album as each track has something perfect about it.
It's hard to highlight only a few tracks off of this album, as each song is special in its own right. To highlight some of the standouts, “The Country Club” is a gorgeous breakup song about admitting your own faults, placed on a catchy indie pop background. The bridge of this song, which is one of the band’s best, stating that “Then she revеals the truth to me, in simple words she always speaks, It don't have to be this way, It's in the choices that you make, Well, all my choices elude pain, Bank it up for rainy days” a wonderful display of being confronted with the pain that you tend to cause yourself, as a result of the choices that you make in a relationship, with an incredibly catchy riff, something that the band is notorious for. This song is an amazing example of what Oso Oso does best, catchy, bright and intricate instrumentals, with incredibly emotional lyrics at the forefront.
“That’s What time Does” a standout single off of the album, about a failing relationship which is compared to a sinking ship. Once again, Litri successfully explains the sinking feeling of knowing something isn’t working in such an interesting way. A heartbreaking lyric, “Both of us lined up eye to eye, I'm laying across the floor from you, You said, ‘Need a little more from you’” which discusses that despite the emotional distance, the people in the relationship described are still trying to see if they can repair the sinking ship previously described. Whether intentional or not, the concluding solo is reminiscent of the song “The Morning Song” which feels like hope, while this track feels like the opposite despite the bright and happy feeling the instrumentals bring.
The two more lighthearted tracks “Skippy” and “Application” are both great love songs, both about the different stages of falling in love. While Application discusses the beginning, talking about wanting the other person so badly, Skippy discusses the feeling of admiration in the relationship. Being placed back to back on the album, the discussion of love and admiration fits perfectly with each other.
“Other People’s Stories” is an amazing closer for this album, a large portion of it being “Other people’s stories aren’t like yours”. Another beautiful love song about admiration, as Lilitri is quite literally stating that no one's stories are like the person who he’s discussing, and that he can’t fall in love with anyone but them. The whole song feels like a build up to the loud instrumental end, which comes to a climax in another amazing bridge on this track which mainly focuses on the love and admiration he expresses.
While only a few tracks are mentioned here, the album is quite literally perfect from start to finish. A mix of emotional vulnerability, intricate instrumentals, and fun makes up the entirety of this album. In an incredibly well thought out and perfectly infamous discography, ‘Life till bones’ fits like a glove and definitely should be considered one of Oso Oso’s best albums to date.
