Oso Oso’s sixth album, and first with new label Feral Twin, is Lilitri’s best work in nearly a decade.
Release date: November 6, 2026 | Feral Twin | Bandcamp | Instagram
Not many bands match can match the consistency or high quality of Jade Lilitri’s work as Oso Oso. Five albums in and not a miss in sight. But just because you’re five albums and over ten years of material deep doesn’t mean there can’t be room to branch out and shake things up a bit. Both sore thumb and life till bones, their two prior albums, are far from bad albums; both are among my favorites of the year they were released, but I do find myself returning to them a bit less than some of Lilitri’s earlier work. an exchange of information, the sixth Oso Oso album, immediately pulled me in much more – and most importantly it’s only gotten better the more I listen.
The punchier and more energetic production on an exchange of information brings a ton of new life to Lilitri and a much fuller and vibrant sound to Oso Oso. an exchange of information gets off to a hot start with “4 am redemption”. I love how the quick moving and uptempo instrumental perfectly complements Liltiri’s captivating vocals on the hook. The guitars are incredible throughout the album, “the nights” sounds divine, and the track is another example of his superpower of sprinkling in an incredible bridge to help elevate an already exceptional track.
I’m not sure if Lilitri’s crafted a more addictive track than “she rides in the stars” since the yunahon mixtape. I can’t decide if I like the guitars or the hook more. The strumming is so simple yet perfect, and the hook is one of the catchiest tracks of the album. “wind me up” is the first of three tracks that come close to the five minute mark or beyond (something that is pretty uncommon for Oso Oso, three of their five longest tracks are on an exchange of information), and each of them are straight hits. It’s one of the slower tracks of the album, but the heavier guitars sound fantastic.
The upgraded production doesn’t change that Lilitri is the star of the show, and his vocal work and writing are still top tier. I’m not sure if Lilitri has pushed himself as hard as he does vocally on “someone like that” since his State Lines days. The near shrieks are perfectly utilized – they get the desperation of the track across perfectly. The somewhat heavier production on “know you know me better” doesn’t put a dent in how incredibly catchy the delivery of the track is. “the premiums” is a pretty unique song for Lilitri. It’s much more narrative than almost any Oso Oso song in the past, taking a few different perspectives, including a musician that’s lost the ‘spark’. The winding track sounds incredible over the simple guitars, and it’s some of the strongest writing the album has to offer. an exchange of information closes incredibly strongly, with the aforementioned track and another longer, but more stylistically familiar “the days”. The guitars are so bouncy, and the singing is so upbeat and infectiously energetic. Wonderful ending note for the album.
I’m not sure if the highs of the yunahon mixtape or basking in the glow will ever be topped, and to be fair, there aren’t many albums I’ve ever heard better than those two. basking in the glow was my album of the year when it came out (in a lot of years yunahon would be too, but 2017 was a fucking insane year), but this is much closer in quality and consistency. For me, it also greatly helps that the album gives you much more material than some of Oso Oso‘s past projects. I have nothing against short albums, tend to slightly prefer them actually, but with how talented Lilitri is, I’d certainly prefer this runtime to a sub 30-minute album.
‘Getting back on track’ isn’t quite the right phrase, considering how solid the two prior albums are, but an exchange of information is a sort of return to early career excellent form. And having been a fan for a long time, I’m thrilled to be able to say that, because there’s just no one in the emo landscape doing it as well as Lilitri does at his best.
