While hanging out with Toronto-based singer-songwriter Chloë Doucet’s jangly, incandescent, and unapologetically catchy tunes, it’s hard not to feel at least a little nostalgic. Knee-deep in the musical landscape of the 21st Century, with its flimsy overproduction and vaguely irritating penchant for viral dance routines, it is truly exhilarating to engage with the tactile, guitar-driven splendor of Doucet’s latest album, Sincerely,. This tightly-curated selection of nine single-worthy songs trades on the interplay between respect for the past and a thoroughly modern maturity: think classic as opposed to vintage.

Fresh off a year spent touring with Canadian indie legend Hayden and performing in the prestigious Los Angeles music showcase It's A School Night, Doucet’s latest offering gives us a refined and sophisticated take on her earlier, poppier work, trading in Rubber Soul riffs for moodier, more evolved shades of All Things Must Pass. Her punky, focused “The Truth” sounds like the catchiest 2000s-era Strokes song never written, while the more meandering “Five Thousand Suns” gives us the purity and melodic twists of a Liz Phair vocal, the sweet relief of an early autumn breeze cutting through a muggy August evening. “Driving,” an utterly charismatic ode to the magic of getting one’s license— however late in life— layers hard-hitting realism with a sun-bleached home movie of a winding country road. 

Though its title implies a certain vulnerability, this collection of songs feels gutsy and assertive, exploring themes of emotional sincerity with confidence and valor. Every song on the album feels more like a short story than a chapter: self-contained, fully-realized and true to the refreshingly honest musical language that is uniquely Doucet’s own.