News Letting Up Despite Great Faults

There’s a chance you’ll become quite smitten with Letting Up Despite Great Faults’ dreamy indie pop - their name taken from the Blonde Redhead track ‘Loved Despite Great Faults.’ LUDGF’s sound is just as nostalgic. Alex Yau catches up with the band’s Michael Lee.

There’s quite a youthful exuberance in the videos for ‘Teenage Tide’ and ‘Our Younger Noise.’ Is this the experience you’re constantly aiming for and would you describe yourselves as quite a nostalgic band in that sense?
It’s one of the themes I’m always drawn into, especially as I get older. All my songs are basically a diary and it just so happens to be the two songs we have videos for which touch upon those nostalgic moments I had when writing.

The video for ‘Teenage Tide was also directed by Christopher J Ewing who’s known for his dream like and romantic films prior to ‘Teenage Tide.’ A lot of people feel those sensations with your music. Did you think you made the right choice with Chris and did you have anyone else in mind?
We all love Chris. He’s amazing to work with and he has this incredible sense for visually conveying what you want to say. For ‘Teenage Tide’ he was the obvious choice.

In previous interviews you’ve described your sound as brighter but with elements doubt and melancholy. I feel that ‘I Feel You Happen’ sounds like your most “darkest” and intense song to date and it also sounds a bit Joy Division to me. Would you agree?
It is probably one of my most frustrated songs, meaning I needed a song where I could just pour all my frustrations at the time into. I wanted it to be a very stressed piece sonically, where everything was kind of peaked out and yet have this gentle scream to it all.

That and ‘Teenage Tide’ also sound quite ambitious too. They feel like your largest songs in sound to date. Were you aiming for a much larger and ambitious sound with ‘Paper Crush?
I maybe wanted to explore my personal dynamics more, so yeah I was probably trying to push big when I was writing those songs. I don’t know where my sense of ambition lies in the sound, but I was definitely aiming for a fuller sound.

You also wanted the sound to be quite meticulous. Are you happy with the final product of ‘Paper Crush’ or are their tiny bits which you’re not so happy about?
There are always things that can be fixed or improved upon; I try my best to get to a point where I can look beyond the small details and take the song as a whole rather than dissect every part.

How did the recording of ‘Paper Crush’ go? Did you experiment with differently in the recording process?
I played a lot with different guitar sounds and I started effecting drum sounds to make them sound noisier but not louder.

Since ‘Movement’ your voice has also become more “dazed” and “vacant.” Was this a conscious evolution or did it come about on its own accord?
Whatever my voice sounds like now has just been a natural progression I think. I do like playing with different effects on my voice however.

‘Paper Crush’ is a mini album. Can we expect a proper full length album anytime soon?
Yes! Hopefully sometime next year.

You’re also touring the UK soon too. How’d you expect that to go?
I’m not sure. I try my best to not have any expectations. I do hope they’ll like us though!

Letting Up Despite Great Faults - Sophia In Gold by lettingup

Letting Up Despite Great Faults - Teenage Tide by lettingup