Dream pop is a tricky thing for me. It’s like 80s hair metal in that, when done just right, brings me instantly back to a point in time – in this case the early 90s when said hair metal was being replaced by all these jangly, spirited concise songs we all called “alternative” because it was the alternative to what FM was playing. Letting Up Despite Great Faults was a huge shot to the head when I first discovered them with IV, their 2022 return after an eight year absence. Everything I love about that record returns in Reveries, a beautifully crafted spiderweb of an album, ethereal and delicate and bound to stick to you when you walk into it. I happily did.

Gliding between electro-synth heavy pop and gently plucked acoustic guitars, the band breathes their signature sound into each track, starting with “Powder” a perfect encapsulation of both. Amid the bounce of the synths there’s still the thrum of the real with Kent Zambrana’s bass rounding out the production of guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Mike Lee. One of the band’s superpowers is the pairing of fellow guitarist/vocalist Annah Fisette – she has a wonderful voice, and on the aforementioned “Powder” and the more forward rock-pop of “Dress” she brings a vitality to the proceedings, ably reinforced by drummer Daniel Schmidt.

The percussion throughout Reveries is an interesting thing: there are moments where it’s obvious the drums are programmed along with the synths to produce engaging rhythms, but they’ll often throw real analog (I hope, I assume) drums to back up and even at times play against the programmed rhythms. There re snatches of early Cure on “Color Filter” which features guest vocals from Meredith Ramond of fellow shoegaze band Soft Blue Shimmer. Lee takes the vocal spot for “Embroidered” and the way his voice falls into the swirling production really backs up that shoegaze label.

This is partly why I hate genre tags and labels. Is this shoegaze? My head puts it in another place entirely. At only 28 minutes there’s no time to think about whether Reveries is front-loaded, though I think I might be partial to the second half which has a drive a send of pure fun in a way that still pangs the heart. The tentative and delicate playing on interlude “I Still Like You The Best” followed by the joyous pop of my current favorite track, “Past Romantic” with its jittery electronic percussion and Fisette lead vocal buoyed by Lee’s harmonizing is such a lovely track, bringing spring back instantly with top down drive with your friends as you ruminate over whether you have the strength to pass up another chance that’s bound to end in heartbreak.

I’m more than 30 years past those feelings, but music is a time machine and Letting Up Despite Great Faults takes me back to the pain and joy of finding those feelings can still be conjured, like an old scar you can feel without seeing. I try not to live there often, but when Reveries sounds this good it’s hard not to take a peek every now and again.