Recorded over a number of sessions in Brooklyn and Roanoke, Virginia, Matter is the deft, brutally honest record we have been waiting for Nicole to make. Flanked by collaborators Joe Boyer (Cloud Nothings), Jacob Sloan (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart), Tom Barrett (Overlake) and Duncan Lloyd (Maximo Park), the fuzzed-out textures and muscular drum beats harken back to nineties guitar rock such as Guided by Voices, Sonic Youth and Belly, while speaking to societal injustices with frankness reminiscent of Bikini Kill and Sleater- Kinney.

Nicole Yun takes great pains to explain her struggle to grapple with modern society throughout the album while still maintaining a distinct indie pop edge enveloped with sonic guitar tones. The songs run the gamut of crisp and structured power pop, to guttural, massive confessional anthems with a breeziness that betrays the title. Matter is the type of album that energizes with catchy hooks that linger in the mind, while sneakily challenging our pervasive numbness and skepticism.