You could hardly call Picture This cold-blooded. From the moment the County Kildare band emerged with 2017’s folky, self-titled debut, emotion—the honest processing of love, loss, uncertainty, and joy—has been their creative fuel while they’ve built on their acoustic foundations to borrow textures and ideas from pop, R&B, and electronic music. On fourth album Parked Car Conversations, the source material remains the same but there’s new boldness to singer Ryan Hennessy. He began therapy after lockdown and digital-pop anthem “Song to Myself” carries the candor of a man who’s looked unsparingly into himself. Opening line “I wish that people would like me more” is a striking admission of vulnerability and insecurity from someone whose on-stage persona is so assured. Piano ballad “Best Thing” is one of the most aching songs Picture This has written, incisively expressing the grief felt at the passing of guitarist Owen Cardiff’s father. There’s light cutting through the darkness too—thumping opener “Act of Innocence” is giddy with the wonder and possibilities of first love, and with its euphoric “oh oh oh”s and Hennessy’s declaration that “I am your shotgun confidant/For as long as you need,” the title track is an unfettered celebration of the singer’s long friendship with drummer Jimmy Rainsford. “Poured our hearts out to their bottoms,” Hennessy sings of their discussions during the band’s early days—and it’s proved an effective way of working ever since.