The Columbus emo band Palette Knife have announced their sophomore LP, and the first couple singles are sounding strong. New Game+ is loosely based around the tropes of 16-bit video games, with interludes like “Death Screen” and “Pause Screen” sprinkled throughout the tracklist. In substance, though, the album seems to hone in on that timeless emo topic of a young man trying to break free of his own neuroses.

“Jelly Boi,” released last fall as a standalone single and repurposed as the proper entryway into the new album, begins with these eminently quotable lyrics: “I wanna unlearn how to be alone/ I want a body to absorb the snacks when stoned/ I wanna fight someone til my lipstick’s blood/ I want a margarita and a PBR.” The guitars are slicing yet wistful, the drums alternately pensive and explosive. It all eventually builds into a blur of technical prowess and skin-of-your-teeth urgency. That blend of guitar heroism and emotional intensity persists on today’s new single “Damn Son, Dim Sum,” which races out of the gate and doesn’t let up.

Hear both tracks below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Death Screen”
02 “Jelly Boi”
03 “Avatar The Last Cakebender”
04 “Quotients”
05 “Pause Screen”
06 “Weekend At Tony’s”
07 “Science Is Spooky Sometimes”
08 “Letters From Mom Town”
09 “Damn Son, Dim Sum”
10 “Fog Gate”
11 “Randal The Vandal With Apple”
12 “Fuckin’ A#”
13 “…And That’s A Rock Fact”

New Game+ is out 1/20 on Take This To Heart. Pre-order it here.