Oso Oso

Emo-pop artist Jade Lilitri, working under the Oso Oso name, channels melodic rock guitar lines and lyrics steeped in personal turmoil through touchstones such as Death Cab for Cutie, Taking Back Sunday, and Brand New. After handling every aspect of the 2015 release Real Stories of True People Who Kind of Looked Like Monsters... himself, Lilitri assembled a supporting group that helped shape the project’s second studio effort, Basking in the Glow, issued in 2019; the album introduced Oso Oso to both the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart and the independent album listing. The band returned three years later with sore thumb.

Lilitri, raised in Long Beach, New York, initially issued material under the Oso Oso banner alone, delivering the 2014 EP Osoosooso and the aforementioned 2015 full-length via Soft Speak Records. To accommodate larger-scale touring, he brought in additional musicians, among them drummer Aaron Wims. The expanded lineup contributed to the 2017 pay-what-you-can collection The Yunahon Mixtape, produced by Billy Mannion, and then regrouped with Lilitri to record the 2019 sophomore album Basking in the Glow. That set, helmed by Mike Sapone—whose prior credits include Taking Back Sunday and Sorority Noise—appeared on Triple Crown Records, entered the Top 30 of the Billboard Independent Albums chart, and reached number five on the Heatseekers Albums survey.

For the third album, sore thumb, Lilitri performed vocals, guitar, bass, and drums while childhood friend Tavish Maloney supplied additional guitar and Mannion added piano; the three musicians shared production duties. Maloney passed away in March 2021, several months before the record’s March 2022 release on Triple Crown.