Life Till Bones

Lilitri's suffering is most pronounced on the cheeky album cover Guitar Hero skeleton crew as opposed to Life Till Bones' serious dealing with mortality. Injured thumb transformed by the death of Lilitri's cousin and collaborator Tavish Maloney at age 24, but only after the fact. the rough edges and show-like fidelity were kept almost intact album-sore-thumb/interviews/qa/” class=”external-link” data-event-click=”{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.stereogum.com/2179202/oso-oso-new-surprise-album-sore-thumb/interviews/qa/"}” href=”https://www.stereogum.com/2179202/oso-oso-new-surprise-album-sore-thumb/interviews/qa/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>as a tribute to the family joy Maloney brought to his creation. The latter still weighs on Lilitri: “This was my brother for almost a quarter of a century/And I failed him when I said, 'Hold me,'” she sighs over a scratchy, lo-fi headphone that has become the necessary mid-break of the album in Oso Oso's albums. But instead of resting, “Seesaw” delves into starkly worded pleas for connection that might otherwise flow from their melodies: “Feel like you stayed too late and left too young,” “You'd think I ain't afraid of nothing/But now more afraid of the same', 'I must hit you and remember you are not there'.

As much as it reshapes the first half of the album, “Seesaw” is a point of mourning. “I don't care what destruction comes around the bend,” Liltiri says on the fast-paced, Strokes-y “Application,” kicking off a series of unabashed love songs written by someone who doesn't immediately trust what love songs have to say, but he is at least willing to listen. “I can't fall in love if it's not with you,” she admits – and as it turns out, other people's stories make Lilitri feel bored because “they're not like yours.”

Like the nine songs before it, “Other People's Stories” lives up to its modest ambitions: to satisfy, rather than surprise. He can leave Life Till Bones feels like it doesn't quite match what it really is: one of the scene's most famous songwriters makes a no-frills record entirely about love and death. Taking the long view, signing to a Big Emo Label and working with a Big Emo Producer on Basking in the Glow makes it strange for an artist who prefers to stay out of the limelight. Lilitri revealed nonchalantly its cover, title and release date Life Till Bones the day it was conquered; I'd use the word 'leaked', except that Oso Oso are back to where they were in early 2017, working with Mannino and self-released their album as free agents. While Tavish Maloney shapes his content Life to the bone, it also feels present in its context, a clearing of distractions and clutter that only comes when people face what really matters in their lives.