Toronto's
Beliefs started out as a shoegaze duo before eventually putting aside their wall-of-sound guitar attack and embracing a more stripped-down, spacious form of synth-heavy post-punk. The group formed in 2010 when vocalists/multi-instrumentalists
Josh Korody and Jesse Crowe met and bonded over noise pop groups like
Sonic Youth and
My Bloody Valentine. They began playing gigs around their home city and eventually signed to Hand Drawn Dracula, which issued their debut single, "Catch My Breath," in 2012. The duo's self-titled debut full-length appeared in 2013, quickly followed by a split 7" single with
Greys.
Beliefs performed at several music festivals and shared the stage with groups such as
A Place to Bury Strangers,
the Breeders, and
Suuns. Their second full-length,
Leaper, appeared in 2015, and the duo contributed a cover of "Sound of Thunder" to Making Patterns Rhyme: A Tribute to Duran Duran. Third album
Habitat arrived in 2017, and was a turning point for
Beliefs, with a greater emphasis on electronics than guitars, and a gloomier sound recalling
the Cure and
Portishead. ~ Paul Simpson