Rating: NNN
After spending the better part of a decade making music for major labels, the Rapture were overcome by debilitating turmoil and have emerged – minus bassist Matt Safer – with their first album in five years, this time for the indie label they helped launch, DFA.
There’s a whiff of the angular post-punk with which they’re most often associated in the shuffling bass lines, but for the most part this is a stylistically varied album united by big, emotive choruses. Indeed, the band seems so focused on nailing a memorable pop hook that it sometimes feels like Luke Penner’s heart-on-his-sleeve falsetto is hammering a little too hard.
Unlike many bands intent on overcoming baggage – musical or otherwise – the Rapture wear their adventurous spirit with confidence. Not every song succeeds, and the best moments tend to be the danciest: the urgent disco of Never Gonna Die Again the piano house melody of How Deep Is Your Love? and the Balkan dance-pop vibe of Come Back To Me.
Top track: How Deep Is Your Love?
