Not so plain emotions.

Plain White T’s are “Feeling (More Like) Myself” with their new self-titled album Plain White T’s. The 4-man Chicagoan band has emo-punk roots that transport listeners back to 2010 pop rock music. They are known for finding ways to weave in their soft side with hit songs like “Hey There Delilah” and “Rhythm Of Love.” Among the thirteen tracks on Plain White T’s, there are themes of “L-O-V-E,” wanting to feel “Happy,” getting “Fired Up” and avoiding “Red Flags.”

The album opens with a nostalgic night out track called “Young Tonight.” The “Perfect night out” is a night spent “Chasing after you / Just a couple of midnight lovers.” At this stage of the album, the lyrics express a youthful excitement over building new romantic relationships. Will it last? Are they “Gonna screw it all up? / It’s alright / We’re gonna get old, but we’re young tonight.”

“Would You Even” is an insecure track heading towards self-identification. The lyrics establish double meaning expectations that one might have in the music industry and in a relationship. There are a lot of doubts about whether someone would even listen “If I pour my heart out” or miss it “If we end it all now.” All this wondering leads to “Always keeping my guard up.” Trust issues and uncertainties are beginning to develop at this stage.

Plain White T’s said it themselves, “It’s so elementary / Minus you, I’m incomplete / We’re the perfect problem, baby.” Track three “You Plus Me,” is nostalgic and filled with little rhymes that are reminiscent of school days. Similarly, “L-O-V-E” and “Girl From Pasadena” are in touch with that Plain White T’s soft acoustic side that audiences know and love. After a gradual flooding of string instruments, the arc of “Girl From Pasadena” ends gently. Each of these heartful tracks reach the stage of completely falling for someone.

Next is “Happy,” an upbeat pop track. At some point, after emotional rollercoasters are created by complex relationships, a consensus is made: “What’s the point of being sad?” Just get “Fired Up,” like track four – “Feel a lot better now / Smile when I look around.” As mentioned in the lyrics, however, feeling “Like my head’s up flyin’ in the clouds” doesn’t last forever.

Using colors to describe a faulty relationship is the approach of track 10, “Red Flags.” First, there are white lies and hiding “all of your secrets in that little yellow Gucci bag.” Then there comes daydreaming “Under purple skies / About your blue jeans and your green eyes,” but there were “Way too many red flags.” The lyrics use “color-blind” to describe the stage before realizing someone’s true colors.

Often after the end of a negative relationship experience, people take time to find themselves again. The track “Feeling (More Like) Myself” is about that journey. Reaching a stage of recovery and willingness to re-enter the dating world is a story told in the closing track “Spaghetti Tattoo,” where listeners are taken on a first date. The album revisits themes from earlier tracks for its finale. Upon entering a new relationship, all the plans are made and the nerves are high; “Don’t know where it’s gonna go / But it feels good not to know.”