Gems

GEMS emerged as an ethereal pop endeavor led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Lindsay Pitts together with multi-instrumentalist Clifford John Usher. The project first drew notice across underground indie circles in the early 2010s, culminating in the October 2015 release of their debut album Kill the One You Love.

The Washington, D.C.-based duo began collaborating musically while enrolled at the University of Virginia and had previously received recognition as the psych-folk act Birdlips in the late 2000s. Seeking a new direction by 2012, Usher and Pitts abandoned an entire album of garage rock-inspired material and shifted instead toward a cleaner, electronics-focused aesthetic, adopting the name GEMS that August. They cultivated an online audience by posting tracks to SoundCloud, where atmospheric cuts such as "Pegasus" and "Sinking Stone" prompted favorable comparisons to Goldfrapp, Beach House, the xx, and Mazzy Star. Their slot at the 2013 CMJ Festival paved the way for the November arrival of their debut EP Medusa.

Following a relocation to Los Angeles and a signing with Carpark Records, the pair delivered their first full-length Kill the One You Love in October 2015. After maintaining a low profile for several years, they returned in 2018 with an expanded edition of Medusa that included the original tracks, instrumental versions, and six previously unreleased songs, among them "Never Age."