Austin-based shoegaze/dreampop group Letting Up Despite Great Faults —Mike Lee (vocals, guitar), Kent Zambrana (bass), Annah Fisette (vocals, guitar), Daniel Schmidt (drums) — return a changed group. The band's new full-length IV is the band's first album in eight years and investigates personal narratives around growth, loss, regret, and renewal. Sonically, the group's sound also explores a more aggressive, forward-leaning approach, wherein Lee elected to break the hermetic shield of synths and filtering. For IV, Lee realized the agency of his voice, thrusting it forward, where it was once "an instrument" in Letting Up's gauzy yet layered expanse of sound. The guitar-driven album represents life's inquiries into often stark revelations concerning mortality and love, as Lee notes, "why you love, how long you love."
- Kahron Spearman