Letting Up Despite Great Faults

The brainchild of Los Angeles musician Michael Lee, Letting Up Despite Great Faults reflects classic dream pop influences with an affectionate, post-'90s mix of chorus-heavy guitars and gentle, recessed vocals, sometimes adding New Order-evoking basslines that play to the dance-inclined. The group followed their eponymous 2009 debut album with 2012's Untogether and 2014's Neon before returning with the higher-fidelity, still giddy IV in 2022. Lee grew up taking piano lessons and listening to bands like Orbital and the Chemical Brothers, later forming Letting Up Despite Great ...