- A floaty shoegaze ballad for lost love.
- Maral is known for her alternately soft and rough takes on experimental folk music that incorporates traditional Iranian rhythms, noise, post-punk and dub influences. There's a loose, drifting cadence to her compositions that lend them a stream-of-consciousness quality, as if the Los Angeles producer was spontaneously unpacking a thought while recording. While making "hope's return," part ambient shoegaze and part doomy downtempo, Maral was clearly in her feelings. Sleepy melodies and slow-motion drums create a sludgy soundscape with clear nods to '90s grunge and alternative rock. There's a weightiness to the entire track, making it the sonic equivalent of a heavy-lidded sigh—understandably so for a track about the melancholy nature of love. Mirroring the lonely beauty of whale songs, "hope's return" is short but profoundly powerful.