The first two singles from LVL UP’s upcoming third album, Return To Love — “Pain” and “Hidden Driver” — were about coming to terms with situations that are outside of our control. The third single, “Spirit Was,” follows down a similar path, acting as a giant exhale in opposition to those other two song’s nervy, breathless temperaments. The band milks every bit of wistfulness they can out of the main guitar line that threads throughout the song as Nick Corbo spins a wearied, restless tale of two people at an impasse. “You look the same, but half dead and acting your age,” he grouses on the hook. “I was embraced, asphyxiated and taking on my shape.” That grounded sentiment is bookended by cryptic exaltations — “Light still leaks in!,” “Black rings in the water!,” “I wrote your name in dust where the spirit was!” — that provide the enlightened mysticism the band has proved adept at. Listen below.

Tour Dates:
09/07 New Brunswick, NJ @ The Saint
09/08 Harrisonburg, VA @ Crayola House
09/09 Richmond, VA @ Gallery 5
09/10 Raleigh, NC @Hopscotch Festival
09/11 Washington, DC @ DC9
09/20 Boston, MA @ Great Scott
09/21 Montreal, QC @ Pop Montreal (Bar Le “Ritz” PDB) ~
09/22 Burlington, VT @ Arts Riot ~
09/23 Durham, NH @ University of New Hampshire
09/24 New York, NY @ Market Hotel %
09/25 Philadelphia, PA @ Philamoca
09/28 New Haven, CT @ Bar
09/29 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom ^
09/30 Kingston, NY @ BSP
10/16 Olympia, WA @ Track House
10/17 Seattle, WA @ The Black Lodge
10/18 Portland, OR @ Analog Cafe
10/20 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill ^
10/21 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill ^
10/22 Pomona, CA @ VLHS
10/23 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex ^
10/29 Gambier, OH @ Kenyon College
10/30 Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar *
11/01 Nashville, TN @ The High Watt *
11/02 Birmingham @ The Syndicate Lounge *
11/03 New Orleans, LA @ Siberia *
11/06 Dallas, TX @ Three Links *
11/09 Omaha, NE @ Milk Run *
11/10 Madison, WI @ The Frequency *
11/11 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean *
11/12 Lansing, MI @ The Blind Pig *

~ w/ Eskimeaux
% Record Release Show w/ Ovlov and Vagabon
^ w/ Bear Vs Shark
* w/ Alex G and Brandon Can’t Dance

Return To Love is out 9/23 via Sub Pop.