It’s been over a decade since Young Prisms has released an album. But even in 2012, they didn’t seem to be hugely impactful. They were often lumped in with the “and others” part of the Shoegaze Revival, often relegated to a footnote in the “you might also like” sections of bands like A Place to Bury Strangers, No Joy, and Silversun Pickups.

But obscurity is rarely a marker for lack of quality though (practically the motto of every music snob), and Young Prisms’ first run of one EP and two albums managed to find deep devotion among hardcore shoegaze fans—their debut Friends For Now has just been repressed again after eleven years out of print.

And now after a ten-year break, Young Prisms is back—and they’re not content to bask in the cult success of their initial run. Drifter sounds familiar to fans of their previous work, but they sound more self-assured than they ever have.

The musical landscape is a bit different than it was in the early 2010s. Gauzy guitars and syrupy vocals aren’t quite the novelty they were before shoegaze aficionados found major communities on social media, pedalboard pics and demos garnering hordes of likes on Instagram and TikTok. Even the term “Shoegaze Revival” has fallen out of vogue as the aesthetic’s resurrection has last longer than the original scene, with far more bands adhering to the tenets of fuzz and reverb pedals. It’s not enough to just sound right anymore (though a number of bands try to hack it with that trick. It’s an attractive skin, but it needs to be stretched over a firm enough form to stand on its own.

Luckily, Young Prisms’ songwriting muscles haven’t atrophied any during their hiatus. The mile-away vocals, hazy guitars, clouds of synths, and simple-but-effective drumbeats (some played, some programmed) are carried by dreamy but assertive songwriting that calls to mind the domestic bliss of Brian Wilson.

Melodies this catchy are usually called “hooks,” but that almost sounds too violent for what’s going on here. A hook is sharp and barbed, luring a victim into inadvertent harm. Rather, the lines here are like invitations from an old friend. They’re an open pair of arms offering an embrace. It’s not assertive enough to demand a yes—and would probably be worse if it did—but accepting the invitation brings a richer reward than you might expect.

Much of that sonic affection is likely due to the real-life reunion of the band members after a decade of chaos and calamity. And with the most dangerous days of the pandemic likely (God, hopefully) behind us, it reflects many of the reunions many of us are likely having as we emerge from quarantine. And in that sense, it’s a perfectly timed release.

Drifter is out now through Fire Talk Records.

Follow Young Prisms on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Bandcamp.