Kevin Bronson on January 20th, 2017

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D.C.-bred duo GEMS earned substantial acclaim for their 2015 full-length “Kill the One You Love,” whose brooding, atmospheric songs revolved around the dual questions of being in love and, simply, being. Then another wrench was thrown into the existential machinery last summer, when Lindsay Pitts and Clifford John Usher ended their nine-year relationship — but continued their creative partnership. Based in L.A. for the past year and a half, the duo in December embarked on a song cycle called “Every Full Moon,” which will bring a new single based on lunar phases. The minimalist gem “Blow Out the Light” kicked off the series, and last week’s “Free Fall” upped the ante, its queasy weightlessness perfect for current moods. “Sometimes life pulls the rug out from under your feet and you have this sense of groundlessness, like everything is suspended in free fall,” the band says. “Really, we are all in free fall, all the time, but it is the moments of cataclysmic change that wake you up to the fact that there are no sure things in life.” A quick check of the Old Farmer’s Alamanac indicates the next full moon is Feb. 10; stay tuned.

||| Stream: “Free Fall” and “Blow Out the Light”