7/10

On her long-awaited new LP 'I Got Too Sad For My Friends', Shura trades neon-lit longing for something quieter and more elemental. Her third full-length effort is the sound of collapse softened by sunlight; a gentle reckoning with solitude, emotional fragility, and the kind of sadness that makes the air feel heavier.

Gone are the shimmering synth pulses and rooftop romances of 'Forevher'. In their place stand woodwinds that flicker, pianos that feel lifted from old family rooms, and vocals that lean in rather than reach out. The tone is intimate but never claustrophobic. The emotional terrain might be tough, but Shura maps it with care and a surprisingly light touch.

The title says a lot, but it’s in the details that the album resonates. Opener 'Tokyo' eases us in with warmth, the kind you might feel on your face in the middle of winter. On 'Leonard Street', Shura captures the quiet ache of being unseen in a city full of people, folding melancholy into a groove you could mistake for hope if you weren’t listening closely. 'World’s Worst Girlfriend' flirts with self-deprecation and turns it into a kind of danceable confession, while 'I Wanna Be Loved By You' strips back everything but need, letting communal vocals do the emotional heavy lifting.

The production, overseen by Luke Smith, balances restraint with richness. You can feel the air in the room during each live take, the creak of the floorboards just beneath the melody. That sense of presence runs throughout the album, and nowhere more than 'Recognise', a late-album standout that blends vaporous synths with thunderclap percussion. It’s the sound of someone re-entering their body after years of numbness.

At a time when so much music demands volume to be heard, Shura reminds us that softness can speak just as loudly. 'I Got Too Sad For My Friends' is a slow-burning reminder that being present, even in your own discomfort, is a kind of courage. And Shura wears that courage like mismatched armour; exposed, imperfect, and deeply, unmistakably human.