GEMS’ “Never Age” Is a Timeless Slice of Dreampop

I was hooked on Lindsay Pitts’ sultry vocals and Clifford John’s lush arrangements from the very first time I visited their Bandcamp page and listened to the Medusa EP. As such, I’ve been meaning to write something about GEMS for the last month or so, and their intoxicating brand of synth-y dreampop. I’ve yet to hear a bad track from the duo, but their finest moment to date is “Never Age,” which was originally released as a b-side by Turntable Kitchen.

The song is one of the band’s poppier efforts, and features a bassline that almost feels funky at times. John’s guitar evokes numerous bands of yore (e.g., The Smiths) without ever sounding beholden to them. Meanwhile, Pitts sighs “If only we could stay like this forever” during the chorus, and you realize that, while she’s singing about a lover, she could just as easily be singing about you and how you feel about this song.