Dave Benton, the onetime singer and guitarist of LVL UP, now channels his creative work through the solo project Trace Mountains from a base in Upstate New York. What began as a lo-fi folk endeavor yielded a set of quirky yet charming home recordings that he issued himself in 2016, before Trace Mountains issued its first proper album, A Partner to Lean On, in 2018. Once LVL UP dissolved that year, Benton relocated to a modest Hudson Valley community and turned his full attention to the solo outlet, resulting in the more cohesive and introspective indie rock of Lost in the Country in 2020, the roots-leaning House of Confusion a year later, and the fourth album Into the Burning Blue in 2024.
Benton and fellow vocalist-guitarist Mike Caridi started LVL UP in 2011 during their time at the State University of New York at Purchase. Their independent spirit and spirited lo-fi rock quickly established them as fixtures in the East Coast indie circuit, while the Double Double Whammy label they co-founded issued projects by Hovvdy, Mitski, and Radiator Hospital. Benton simultaneously documented his own understated acoustic material as Trace Mountains, a distinctive blend of folk reflection and spare indie rock that surfaced as the 2016 collection Buttery Sprouts & Other Songs. As LVL UP’s momentum waned, the group disbanded in 2018—the same year Benton released his official Trace Mountains debut, A Partner to Lean On.
Viewing the moment as an opportunity for renewal, Benton settled in Kingston and assembled a small circle of collaborators for his next recordings. Lost in the Country arrived in 2020 with expanded arrangements and lyrics centered on solitude and the natural surroundings. House of Confusion followed in 2021, showcasing even tighter songcraft that occasionally incorporated acoustic folk textures. LVL UP reconvened briefly in August 2024 for a handful of performances marking the tenth anniversary of Hoodwink’d. Soon after, Trace Mountains delivered Into the Burning Blue, an album that favored electric guitars and a polished studio approach over earlier methods.
