West Coast soft pop practitioners Papercuts are based around the skills of Jason Quever, a multi-instrumentalist and producer with a firm grasp on 50 years' worth of pop, whether it's indie, Baroque, folk, or noise. Whether working alone (as on albums like 2007's Can't Go Back) or with collaborators (2011's album for Sub Pop, Fading Parade), Quever's trademark sound blends echoing guitars and full arrangements with melancholy melodies and his faded whisper of a voice. It's a template used by many, but Quever's skill as a producer (as evidenced by his busy slate of studio work with the likes of Luna and Beach House) vaults Papercuts past most of their contemporaries, even when tweaking the formula, as on 2018's shoegaze-inspired Parallel Universe Blues. That album, paired with 2022's Past Life Regression, also displays Quever's full flowering as a songwriter, crafting hooks as strong as any of his influences ever did.