Duster inspired a whole musical generation (including (Sandy) Alex G, Snail Mail and Girlpool) with their obscure late ‘90s slowcore records, leading to a resurgence 18 years after their breakup in 2000. On Dec. 14, they’re set to release their first new album in nearly 20 years. Last month, they gave us the first preview of Duster with the entrancing lead single, “Copernicus Crater.” Today (Dec. 2), the trio have dropped a second taste of their forthcoming self-titled record with “Letting Go.”
“Letting Go” isn’t quite as hypnotic as the psych-inflected “Copernicus Crater.” The band’s gauzy “tranq-rock” sounds a little more straightforward here, though it’s as fuzzed-out and feedback-laden as ever. A muted ode to accepting that the past is past—”Memories don’t do me any good / I just can’t do it anymore”—”Letting Go” comes with a simple visual by photographer Mark Cross, which shows us photos of the band on tour, steadily piled high atop a jean jacket with a patch of Duster’s album art emblazoned with a pink label bearing the song title. It’s a hopeful juxtaposition: Duster, of course, are no longer just a thing of the past.
Watch “Letting Go” below.