Recently, when discussing our frustrations with dating and the perils of dating apps in particular, a close friend of mine pronounced, “I just want to skip to being a year into a relationship when we’re comfortable and in love.” And I can’t disagree. Month-long flings and one-night stands are fun for awhile but eventually you just want to be madly and hopelessly in love.
That being said, the concept of “forever” is one I still have trouble wrapping my head around. This past Monday, I watched as my cousin vowed eternity to a very sweet and beautiful girl and wondered how someone can be that blindingly optimistic. Because, really, when it comes down to it “for better or worse” is not necessarily something that we should sign up for or a promise that I think the majority of those who pledge “I do” really mean.
Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful thing to be in the midst of — the kind of resplendent love that overtakes practicality and makes you do crazy things, like vow to be with one person forever. The latest single from shoegaze project Letting Up Despite Great Faults captures this all-consuming feeling and the complicated dance of finding someone who — in a hopefully slightly less toxic than Jerry Maguire way — “completes us.”
The Austin-based band have long been making blissful fuzzed-out dreampop that evokes a particular brand of longing and “Gemini,” the lead single off their first full-length in seven years, continues that tradition beautifully. With a backdrop of swoony synths that perfectly emulate the moody haze of being in the thick of devotion to another human being, frontman Mike Lee softly proclaims, “I don't mind if I bruise my knees to ask your hand / But you always lift me up so I can see every part of me / Will you be my gemini with me all the time?”
In the video for the track, premiering today exclusively via KEXP, two people navigate their intertwined relationship through a gorgeously choreographed and intimate dance. Using a rope twisted around the bodies of the two lovers to signify their connection and a pair of earrings, one on each person’s ear, as a metaphor for completion, the video depicts the song’s theme in a perhaps not-so-subtle but dazzling way.
Lee had this to say about the video:
"Gemini” comes from the band’s forthcoming record IV. The self produced album was mastered by someone who knows a thing or two about fuzzed out shimmer — Slowdive's Simon Scott. With the release date still TBD, the album follows 2017’s Alexander Devotion EP and their most recent full-length, 2014’s Neon. Watch the video for “Gemini” below.
