In the 2000s, Film School were prescient enough to bridge the gap between shoegaze and post-punk -- and unlucky enough to call it quits in 2011, just before the revivals of those styles hit critical mass later in the 2010s. When the band reunited in 2014, it was as organic as it was unexpected: the version of Film School that recorded 2006's self-titled album for Beggars Banquet -- Greg Bertens, Nyles Lannon, Justin Labo, Jason Ruck, and Donny Newenhouse, aka "the Beggars lineup" -- played their first show together in seven years to celebrate Newenhouse's 40th birthday. Discovering that their chemistry was still potent, the bandmembers returned to the studio to record 2016's June EP and sequestered themselves on the outskirts of Joshua Tree a year later to make their fifth album. While Film School's allusions to to the Cure, My Bloody Valentine and Joy Division were even more relevant at the time of Bright to Death's 2018 release than they were in 2006, the band doesn't confine itself to those sounds. Instead, the Beggars lineup blends Film School's drive with the polish of 2010's electronic-leaning Fission, and adds hints of synth pop, chillwave, and 2010s dream pop to the mix. The arpeggiated synths on the previously released single "Bye Bye Bird" dance like colorful fountains; along with the swooning "Crushin'," it could easily fit on a playlist with Still Corners, Beach House, and M83. The ease with which Film School switch between these different elements on Bright to Death offers the greatest proof that they've matured since the Beggars days. On the album's first half, they lean into shoegaze's quintessential sounds: with its churning guitars and breathy vocals, "Two in Sun" harks back to the halcyon days of 1991. On Bright to Death's second half, Film School deliver some of their catchiest songs yet. "The Celebration" revisits their post-punk fixations with as much intensity as back in the day, while "Here in the Shadows" and "In Two" are among their finest, and moodiest, pop songs. Film School even break new ground with "Go Low," a winding, psychedelic track that isn't quite like anything they've done before. Some of the band's most confident music, Bright to Death is a welcome return as well as a timely one.