Time Got Away From Me

Gems “Medusa”

I have, over the past decade, become very skeptical about EPs and stray hype tracks for new artists – it’s most often the only songs the artist has ever made, and I’ve lost a lot of patience for hearing people work through the basics of songwriting. This song by Gems, though, is why I shouldn’t be so lazy or cynical. “Medusa” is a remarkably sophisticated pop song, and the band seems to have arrived fully formed in terms of character and aesthetics. The center of the song is Lindsay Pitts’ vocal performance, which effortlessly glides from a seductive midrange up to ecstatic high notes in a way that reminds me a bit of Alison Goldfrapp. But I’m just as interested as what is on the periphery – the foggy atmosphere, the arrival of a proper smoothly articulated guitar solo, the male backing vocals that are surprising at first but then become an important contrast to Pitts’ lead.

Visit the Gems website.