It's always fun to come across great music from your alma mater, and since a good number of our staff went to Oberlin College, we're fortunate that it's a fairly regular occurrence. The newest campus-grown act to catch our eye is shya, a bedroom-pop project that's been tugging on our heartstrings pretty efficiently since the first listen.
shya's latest LP, trying, is a brilliantly put-together work of mellow rock that balances lo-fi sensibilities (note the refusal to capitalize anything) with tight songwriting and mixing that's far from your standard slacker fare. The influences are clear—'90s alternative, surf pop, etc.—but shya manages to rearrange them into something new and powerfully emotive.
The album's first single, "food poisoning," embodies all that makes this act stand out. You'll just have to wait to hear the rest when the album drops and be jealous of us in the meantime.