GEMS is a dream-pop duo from Washington, D.C., made up of Clifford John Usher and Lindsay Pitts. This isn’t the first time the of them have worked together, but this is their most electronic and poppy work.
It’s also their most likely to succeed, thanks to the way that it blends an obvious variety of influences. At once sounding like Beach House and Chvrches, it feels as if the duo spent the past two years ingesting nothing but Warp and 4AD albums. They come off as a breath of fresh air in a genre that seems cyclically doomed to start feeling stagnant and stale every twenty minutes.
The title track off this EP is what you’ll come for; it’s a total showstopper. That’s not to say the other stuff isn’t good — Ephemera has a fantastic chorus, and Sinking Stone is beautifully moody despite its cheery nature. Actually, Sinking Stone is nearly gospel-like in tone.
I’m a sucker for four-song EPs, which I think is nearly the perfect length for my often-brief attention span, and this is no exception. GEM’s Medusa is a lush, beautiful EP that holds tremendous promise for their future.