Listeners searching for sunny electro-pop to soundtrack the start of their summer – look no further than Yuno’s Blest, released May 16th. With polished synth-pop production and simple, singable melodies, these tracks are earworms that stick for hours.

The production on this album is spearheaded by Yuno himself, accompanied by Frank Corr. Yuno sings and plays keyboards, guitars, and percussion across all the tracks. One of the stronger elements of production throughout is the use of instrumental hooks. Catchy, clear-cut guitar and synthesizer riffs grace each track, providing the listener with another piece of melodic information to hold onto. It’s like the instruments are another voice, alongside Yuno’s lyrics. The sine-wave synth melody that opens “Fall Apart,” and the bass line throughout “We Belong” are two great examples of this. The choppy guitar riff on “Unfair” catches the listener’s attention and maintains steady propulsion throughout the song.

Yuno’s influences of dance-pop, trap and psychedelic music blend together throughout the entirety of Blest. On the standout track “Gimme Ocean,” he employs surf-rock guitar tones and chord voicings, accompanied by a trap-hat beat underneath. “We Belong” is rooted in acoustic guitar and bass, dipping its toe into folk. Yuno and Corr do a great job of showing the arc of the song through production choices. The verses tend to start sparse, opening up to a bright, soaring chorus with layers of guitars and shimmery synth pads.

Turning to lyrical and melodic content, Yuno shows us his mastery of the simple, memorable melody. He keeps his lyrics very general and touches on overarching, relatable themes. His choruses tend to revolve around 1-2 word repeating hooks. The songwriting feels very intentional, like Yuno is guiding the listener through the track very carefully and making sure they take away the proper messaging from each hook.

From the album’s punchy vocal opening on “Blest” to the trap beat and flute loop on “True,” Blest offers something for everyone, while remaining a cohesive sound. With catchy choruses and big anthemic production, the songs feel straight out of a credits scene from the next big indie movie.