Violet (Opaque Aqua Vinyl) (Import)

With the release of their second full-length album, Violet—once again helmed by Grammy-nominated producer Will Yip—L.S. Dunes live up to the promise set by their debut, and in many ways, open up an opportunity to rediscover the band in a different light: Where Past Lives takes its oxygen from the thrill of frenzy and impulsiveness, Violet breathes deeper with a more open and expansive palette. Whether it lives in the confident and steady pulse of a song like “Machines,” in the rousing lyrical empowerment of “Paper Tigers,” or in the way that “Forgiveness” forges itself as an anthem for love and unconditional acceptance in the face of our personal failures, Violet is a body of work that secures multiple outcomes: There is hindsight. There is hope. There is, in fact, magic.