Self Care

On their debut album, Sydney band Yours Truly conjures the spirit of acts such as Paramore and State Champs, combining heartfelt lyrical themes with anthemic emo and pop punk. Not surprisingly for an album called Self Care, frontwoman Mikaila Delgado delves deep into her soul, finding catharsis in exorcising the demons of a messy breakup (“Composure”) and acknowledging the fear, anxiety, and sense of impostor syndrome she felt following the success of 2019 EP Afterglow (“Together”). The quartet–who formed in 2016 when Delgado contacted guitarist Teddie Winder-Haron via Facebook–aren’t afraid to take their foot off the gas, with “Undersize” a heartfelt acoustic-pop number the singer wrote to show support for a struggling friend. “Half of Me,” meanwhile, charts the pain of a long-distance relationship, set to Winder-Haron’s acoustic guitar and Delgado’s plaintive vocals. Such moments are, however, the exception to the melodic pop-punk rule on an album that will move you as much emotionally as it does physically.