The dual forces of shadow and light, despair and hope, frustration and catharsis are at play in the music of Cupid & Psyche, the Los Angeles-based indie rock duo of Michael Vidal and Juan Velasquez. First gaining recognition in the late aughts as members of the punk band Abe Vigoda, whose 2010 album Crush was named one of the “Best 50 Albums of the 2010s” by Pitchfork, the two have reunited as collaborators for the first time in a decade.
Finding themselves unmotivated by the pandemic, the two proposed going back into a practice room just to “make a bunch of noise,” Vidal says. As they reconnected over a cacophony of guitar feedback, the two felt a surge of creativity and feeling of ease—the kind only a close friend could inspire. Soon, their cathartic jam sessions would birth the emotionally resonant songs that appear on their debut album, Romantic Music.
