After their 2023 debut, I, led to national radio exposure, major festival appearances, and European tours, Bye Parula’s sophomore effort, Something Out of Nothing, sees the Montreal art-pop trio expanding their aesthetic horizons while tapping into a more introspective strain of songwriting. Like its predecessor, Something Out of Nothing was produced by Robbie Kuster of Patrick Watson and engineered by Warren Spicer of Plants and Animals, but the new album also introduces a team of collaborators—including Inuk singer/songwriter Elisapie, Bibi Club’s Adèle Trottier-Rivard, Morgan Moore and Karkwa keyboardist François Lafontaine—that speaks to Bye Parula’s growing stature in the Canadian indie landscape. The result is a mercurial mix that draws from the orchestral funk of Serge Gainsbourg, the wounded melodies of Elliott Smith, the worldly rhythms of Talking Heads, and the homespun R&B of Dijon, all infused with a ‘70s cinematic sensibility that blurs the line between sun-dappled, soft-focus fantasia and urbane sophistication. But Something Out of Nothing’s pleasure-seeking sounds can’t obscure the distress lurking under the surface—this is a record that massages your shoulders musically while punching you in the gut lyrically.