Connecticut pop polymath Chelsea Cutler wrote her fourth album in the thick of her late twenties, that time in life when the carefree adventurism of young adulthood inevitably gives way to serious grown-up decisions about what you want to do with your life, and who you want at your side for the long haul. With IS THIS THE END?, Cutler presents a break-up drama in two acts. In the first part, she bottles up all the exhilaration of falling in love—and the somewhat unhealthy codependency that results—into anthemic, emotionally urgent tracks (“CAN YOU SHOW ME?”, “SORRY I’M OBSESSED WITH YOU”) that hover between the confessional alt-pop of Lorde and the dreamy ’80s sheen of Lover-era Taylor Swift. But on the flipside, she surveys the aftermath of the split, using post-dubstep production tics to render the mental fogginess of “DO YOU EVER REALLY KNOW?”, while rendering the unfiltered heartache of “THIS TIME OF THE YEAR” with indie-folk brushstrokes. Our Favorite Track: “THE CAR RIDE HOME,” the album’s climactic penultimate song, is a glorious synth-smeared ballad where Cutler vows to leave her troubles in the rearview and look forward to the less cruel summers that lie ahead.