Arriving just one year after the Grammy-nominated Weird Faith, Diaz’s seventh album dramatically pares back her sound; much of the album is just her and an acoustic guitar, with full-band instrumentation making its return for the album’s cathartic closing title track. The minimalist structures of Fatal Optimist were born out of a breakup and a period of self-enforced solitude, and with co-producer Gabe Wax (Soccer Mommy, Zach Bryan) at the boards, these 11 songs ring out with warmth and quiet devastation. Diaz has always been known for emotional missives that cut close to the bone, but moments like the reflective pain of “Ambivalence” and the not-looking-back kiss-off “Lone Wolf” are as direct as she’s ever been on record.