Thursday, July 26, 2012

Passion Pit - Gossamer

After 2009's very successful Manners, Passion Pit is back with their sophomore album, Gossamer. Trying to live up to their previous effort, this group might be experiencing a sophomore slump.

"Take A Walk," the opening track, is a beautiful song about dealing with tragedy by taking a walk, getting fresh air and clearing your head. It's one of the few songs on this album that doesn't directly speak about the master theme: love. "I'll Be Alright" is a hyper song about letting go of a relationship. It's my personal favorite on the album. "Two Veils To Hide My Face" is a short, a cappella song that feels a lot like poetry.

Lead-singer/songwriter Michael Angelakos writes lyrics that are very conversational; he's directly speaking to someone in most cases. Many of the songs on this album have group vocals on the chorus, a beautiful technique that grows somewhat old.

Although some tracks have serious lyrics, the pop melody of the instruments prevents me from taking them seriously. There are few exceptions to this rule, including "Constant Conversations."

Passion Pit's first album brought forth the glorious single "Sleepyhead." Gossamer feels as though the band is trying to reach that glory again, but not quite finding the same success. There are several great songs, but none are on the same level of excitement as "Sleepyhead." This album is good, but it's not great enough to be much of anything special. Gossamer is out now on Columbia Records.

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