This album came to me in the mystical way that albums tend to. It happened that I was looking for this week's feature and chose to listen to a NPR 'All Songs Considered' piece for new songs. I was drawn in by the featuring of "Roman Candles" from the new Death Cab for Cutie album and left with this amazing discovery. NoSo brings a fresh sound with beautiful contents. With poignant lines that linger in your mind and tunes that you carry with you from your last listening; this is a memorable album. It brings with it questions about identity and desire that feel articulated in such a perfect way. For me, to bring in the last month of this year with this album feels like closure and assurance. It is reflective, but forward looking. It sums up well my year of asking myself who I am and what I want. So maybe you will find some of the same.

The music itself is lush and full. Filled with intricate guitar, big hooks, big synth sounds, and understated but perfect drums. Above all is NoSo themself and their overwhelming vocals. "Parasites" opens the album with a somewhat synthpop vibe. It feels like a heartfelt call to do what must be done to feel like yourself. The depth of the track and the quality of the vocals is superb. "David" is a fun track. David, the titular character, is described as an "American boy with a gorgeous pointy nose." It lives at the intersections of desire. Both for David and for David's features. It feels very queer and wholesome in its expression of desire and love. "Sorry I laughed" is an intimate song with a good sense of humor. Which makes it even more intimate in a way. The music matches it with a somewhat sensuous feeling. "Feeling Like A Woman Lately" has a fantastic groove. The guitar on this track just feels great. The lyrics are well paced and tend to stick in your head long after the song has faded. The album closes with "Everything I've Got." It's a low and powerful song. It feels sad and maybe frustrated. But, there is a feeling of hope and determination. With acoustic guitar building into a crescendo of horns and violins it makes for a beautiful finale. It leaves you with that lyric. "I'll love you with everything I've got."

This beautiful album may have taken all year to come to me, but it now stands out as one of my favorites. It raises questions of identity and desire. Love and frustration. Hope and despair. We see genuine and earnest feelings communicated. It is truly great artistry in my mind for them to sum up some of the more subtle and elusive feelings of the human experience in such a beautiful manner. It is honest and raw with these emotions and they come across well. This is a distinctly resonating album for the alienated and lost. For those seeking themselves. I love this as a debut album. I'm excited to see where they might go next and content to revisit these songs.