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The opening 30 seconds to Paper Crush showcases in piecemeal fashion some of the layers that collectively make up Letting Up’s complex sound. Track #1 Repeating Hearts begins with a muddy guitar chunking out an indie-rock version of a pop chord progression. After a few cycles the song introduces a thick, looming layer of synth. Soon after the weighty dirge is provided a measure of buoyancy as the electro beat drops and the bass abruptly interlocks with the gist of the pulse. Finally the voice appears, a furtive whisper buried deep in the wash, sometimes protruding into the foreground with a metallic ring.
As a form of melodious shoegazer, the music at times resembles M83. But where M83 is dramatic and expansive, Paper Crush is concise and compact. Shoegazer’s infinitely dividing and intersecting currents of noise are pulled from the reaches of the distant horizon by the gravity of the dance beat, drawn in and forced to organize themselves within the confines of liminal time.
At times the lyrics seem an attempt to be a candle to the adolescent in crisis. Combined with the breathy vocals this could either serve as a fitting contrast to the melancholic fluorescence haunting the surrounding texture, or be seen as a tad hammy. Personally, I think it fits. Either way Letting Up has executed a nuanced sound with admirable precision. A graceful synthesis from the city of angles.
-Caleb Price (September 2011)
Also, see their new video for “Teenage Tide”
