Whereas many of their peers from the late aughts underground have faded away, the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart thankfully persist. Few bands have had more success translating record-nerd sounds of yesteryear — in this case the indie-pop, shoegaze, synthpop, and alternative rock of the ’80s and ’90s — into satisfying modern pop music. Over the course of three albums, project mastermind Kip Berman has proven himself to be not just a master of dreamy aesthetics but a first-rate songwriter, too, capable of conveying a wistfulness not limited to any one age or demographic.
Make that four albums. The Echo Of Pleasure, Pains’ follow-up to 2014’s underrated Days Of Abandon, arrives next week. It’s streaming a week ahead of time today, and it’s definitely worth your time. Early singles “My Only,” “Anymore,” and “When I Dance With You” demonstrated that Berman remains on top of his game a decade deep into the band’s career. And on “So True” he turns over the mic to keyboardist Jen Goma (of A Sunny Day In Glasgow and Showtime Goma fame) with similarly stirring results. Stream the full album below via NPR.
This article originally appeared on Stereogum.