Both as artists and people, Small Circle is a band built on self-discovery. When Sorority Noise singer/guitarist Cam Boucher recruited Marissa D’Elia for a new project in early 2016, he’d never even heard her sing. But he knew she had important things to say.

Soon the pair—along with fellow Sorority Noise members Adam Ackerman (guitar) and Charlie Singer (drums)—had formed Small Circle, who were quickly dubbed a “supergroup” by AV Club and released their debut EP, Melatonin, in April 2016 on Boucher’s Flower Girl Records. Her bandmates were veterans of the game, but for D’Elia, who counts Small Circle as her first band ever, stepping into the role of songwriter and frontwoman was the ultimate learning experience.

“I definitely struggled with finding my voice,” D’Elia explains of the process. “I have friends who have made some of my favorite music ever, and a lot of times I’d turn to Cam and say, ‘My favorite songs already exist’ or ‘This song I want to write already exists.’ He always told me to reach for more. A big thing was getting over perfection.”

This juxtaposition of the band members’ respective musical histories is what gives Small Circle’s debut album, Cyclical, its defining sound. The album, due out September 8 via Flower Girl and Triple Crown Records, is confident yet full of endearing charm—sturdy musicianship buoyed by D’Elia’s hand-to-pen, unapologetically honest lyricism.