The dual forces of shadow and light, despair and hope, frustration and catharsis are at play in the music of Cupid & Psyche, the Los Angeles-based indie rock duo of Michael Vidal and Juan Velasquez. First gaining recognition in the late aughts as members of the punk band Abe Vigoda, whose 2010 album 'Crush' was named one of the “Best 50 Albums of the 2010s” by Pitchfork, the two have reunited as collaborators for the first time in a decade.

Though they pull from a wide array of ‘80s and ‘90s influences, Cupid & Psyche bring together these disparate moods and genres through their own esoteric lens on Romantic Music—making for a singular sound that at once feels familiar and alluringly hypnotic. Listeners will detect the gloom of post-punk and goth, the haziness of dream-pop and shoegaze, the bittersweet guitar melodies of second-wave emo, and the manic electronic rhythms of trip-hop and big beat.

Now as Cupid & Psyche, Vidal and Velasquez return to a friendship that creatively feels like home—except this time, with more experience, self-knowledge, and less pressure to make anything other than the music that emerges naturally. The LP’s title 'Romantic Music' is tongue-in-cheek, since there are no love songs proper on the project, and the phrase itself can imply a kind of light listening. But it befits that deep bond that the members have, as friends who understand and empathize with each other’s worst, so they’re capable of bringing out each other’s best.