Tropopause, Bomethius’ second release on Chicago-based indie label Oakley Avenue Records, arrives with the sort of effortlessness that can only be born from experience. Working with the same core of collaborators from his prior record, Borrowed Time, and following years of diligent live performances, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Hodges has opened a new, louder, and more compact chapter of his nearly decade-long baroque pop project. 

In a discography that maintains a clear continuity aesthetically and thematically—with each release in conversation with its predecessors—Tropopause serves as a welcoming entry point for new listeners. For one, it’s Hodges’ most concise statement. A trim-the-fat approach to composition for this album produced a 10-song tracklist and 26-minute runtime, and the lean result is both digestible and direct. There’s also a greater clarity to the writing as Hodges covers similar lyrical territory to his most recent releases. “The cycle, against which most of my music is set, borbles on,” he says, but on Tropopause, he's been afforded time and distance from this cycle, which allows for a wider perspective unburdened by still-sharp pains. Like the meteorological term from which it draws its name, the record represents a threshold in one’s life and the areas on either side of it—all of which can be best appreciated from a bird’s-eye view.     

Lastly, Tropopause carries Hodges’ most refined and arresting pop earworms to date. Rhythms and guitar lines chug in lead single “Thunderbird.” An explosive Weezer-esque guitar solo closes “I’m Out.” The piano-led “The Clown” hearkens to the playful yet biting ballads of Randy Newman and Fiona Apple. Guest harmonies from Hodges’ sister, Caroline, dance through some of the record’s quieter moments (“Over,” “Almost,” “Scorched Earth”), and the album ends with what’s sure to be one of the most memorable violin pieces in the Bomethius catalog. The closing moments wordlessly represent that barrier between the turmoil below and the lucidity above, as explored by the preceding songs. It’s a memorial of divine goodness, a reminder that it doesn’t have to be that serious, and a nudge to pet a dog, and go outside, and chase pigeons and squirrels. Sometimes, that’s all you need to do.

Tropopause releases June 7th on Oakley Avenue Records.