Alt-pop duo Balu Brigada deliver on the promise of their previous singles and EPs on this suave, snappy debut album. Brothers Henry and Pierre Beasley, both of whom sing and juggle assorted instruments, self-produced Portal in multiple cities and countries, including New York, Berlin, and their home base of Auckland. As with fellow Antipodean breakouts Royel Otis, the pair reliably ground their glistening hooks and percolating rhythm section with tousled emotional honesty. Their popular 2024 single “So Cold” appears here with its bubbly funk edge, and there’s added urgency to the vocals and lyrics of “Backseat,” which charted in both America and New Zealand. “Golden Gate Girl” flirts with synth-pop while dropping casual references to Sacramento, New York, and, of course, the San Francisco Bay Area, before “What Do We Ever Really Know?” channels The Strokes’ jaded cool. No matter how breezy and propulsive these tunes might be, the Beasley siblings make sure the songwriting is strong enough to keep us invested long after the hooks have snagged our attention.