It’s been thirteen years since Belong released their sparkling diamond Common Era. In that time, the shadow of that record grew out into the same edgeless infinity of its droning guitarscapes. That record melded the sounds of iconic records together like a dream you have while listening to a shoegaze and post punk playlist on shuffle. And in the midst of that dream, it Inceptioned itself into an iconic record itself.
It’s a tough record to follow, no matter the gap. But greater records have been followed up with longer gaps and have turned out fine. And while Common Era often felt like a sound study on Loveless, there’s a similar sort of parallel between m b v and Reminisce IX.
Speaking of the 
When Kyle Bates holed himself up in his Pacific Northwest apartment to record an album about isolation, grief, and personal trauma, he had no way of knowing how universal those feelings would become by its release. On the other side of lockdowns, protests, and relationships frayed by the above, Bates’ examinations are endlessly relatable—however, they still sound deeply personal, almost as if he never intended to release it.
