Yorushika takes a literary turn on its first full-length album, Dakara Boku Wa Ongaku Wo Yameta. Here, producer N-buna adjusted the alternative-rock sounds he cultivated as a creator based around the VOCALOID singing-synthesizer software during the 2010s (when working with HACHI, DECO*27, and Balloon) for Suis’ very human voice. For its 2019 LP, the pair constructed brisk, guitar-driven songs boasting upbeat melodies but heavier lyrical themes such as longing and existential dread. Dakara Boku Wa Ongaku Wo Yameta provides a fractured narrative courtesy of a protagonist named Amy. The album plays out as postcards sent to a woman named Elma, as Amy travels through Sweden (with physical copies of the album arriving with replica letters to help expand on the story). Suis’ ability to pack a lot of details into uptempo songs pays off here, as she can fit in setting points and character development on tracks such as the rollicking “Utagaki To Coffee.” Instrumental interludes referencing dates like “8/31” or “7/13” help set the mood, with N-buna experimenting with a wider range of instruments such as piano or hip-hop drums. Despite the enveloping storyline—further explored later in 2019, on the duo’s second album, Elma—Yorushika’s songwriting remains as catchy as it is intricate. The piano intertwines with N-buna’s guitar lines, creating a sonic tension on songs such as “Ai Nijou” and helping to build drama on slower ballads like “Parade,” which adds violin for extra emotional swell. Dakara Boku Wa Ongaku Wo Yameta’s title track packs in plot points vital to unfolding the central conflict found here and on its follow-up, but anyone can join along with Suis’ shouts come the galloping chorus.