Oh, mirror, mirror
You are the dealer
Who is it I’m supposed to be?

And with the start of that chorus on second single “Stand Up”, In The Valley Below begin their auspicious return after making me swoon this summer with “Peaches”. Life pondering, morose male/female duos always do me in, especially with the heavy Phantogram vibes coming off of ITVB—which is only stronger on “Stand Up”. Minus, of course, that ITVB are rockier, the production less swirly suffocation, and, oh yeah: ITVB want to bust the fuck out of their darkness.

I don’t always believe Phantogram know a way out of their “Blackout Days” (which is what draws me to them), but ITVB have, at least two singles in, a penchant for punching their way out of chains that ‘hold their tongue’—even if it means they might not live much longer after it’s all smoke floating over the struggle pyre. Which, combined with their delightfully, casually emoted dark thoughts serving as lyrics, provides a potent, twisted version of the anthem.

That anthemic push is never desperate: that would just soggy ITVB’s sharp, acrid focus. But I absolutely love the imagery of sitting in the mirror, so unsure of yourself that your dysmorphic reflection serves as your drug dealer, pumping you with irrational highs to push you free, free from a love that makes you run. Its all just one delicious sumptuous soup of a song—especially the ominous coos in between stanzas in the chorus—and a great sign of ITVB’s ability to stick around the scene.

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