First off I'd like to apologize for the extended hiatus. If this was at all like the NBA Lockout, I would have threatened to blog abroad, but instead I'll do this pro-bono.
I've written some this summer, so stay tuned for some updates.
For example the Rapture released an album for mass consumption on Tuesday. I have some opinions on it.
"In The Grace of Your Love"
The Rapture have had a tumultuous history during their time as a band. Once the indie dance punk darlings of a daring New York scene, the Rapture were the “it” band. Working with the DFA studio, the Rapture’s success helped pave the inroads for the genre to take off. Their previous releases, Echoes and Pieces of the People We Love were loud, fun, and raucous. The synths squealed, the drums pummeled, and co-vocalists Luke Jenner and Mattie Safer yelped on top of it all. That was four years ago though.
Since then Mattie has left the band, they went on an extended hiatus, and they’ve grown up. The maturity that comes with facing a creative crisis, while scrambling to get the band together comes out in In the Grace of Your Love. The lead track “It Takes Time to be a Man” starts off in a jazzy groove with a piano jangling in the background, and delves into the reflective nature of a band that has grown up. The songs have sprawled out, losing much of the tight fury from the previous albums. Instead, the band gives their ideas more time to breathe and develop within a song. “How deep is Your Love” clocks in at over six minutes, where ideas build on top of each other, naturally maneuvering the song into a sound the band had not previously explored.
Unfortunately, the ideas that were so tightly jammed into brief moments of dance punk bliss on the previous albums have largely evaded the band on this album. The ideas on this album seem more contrived and have to be coerced out, and there are not enough them to sustain throughout. The momentum of the album fades, the spastic energy has been drained, and the effort just becomes tired.
The long hiatus may be the cause for the brevity of the inspired ideas. Parts of this album do dazzle and bring back memories of what the band once was. Unfortunately, the new look Rapture sound more mature but miss the entire point of their sound, and leave behind a disappointing comeback album.
P.S
The title for this post is from Jay-Z's "Encore". Fake Shore Drive has a post about his 50 greatest songs. I disagree with a lot of the picks. Stay tuned, I've been in a heavy-rap mood lately, and will have things to discuss.
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