Release Date: Aug. 23, 2011
Even before he was Active Child, Pat Grossi was knockin’ on Heaven’s door. Choir boy by day and aspiring musician by night, Grossi spent years bringing the sacred harmonies he learned in church to the secular stage. With a sound that could accompany a journey to the pearly gates, people began to take notice. 2010 was a landmark year for Grossi, who, as Active Child, released an EP and toured with the likes of White Lies, School of Seven Bells and James Blake.
You Are All I See picks up right where Grossi left off with last year’s Curtis Lane EP, an endearing blend of synth-pop and church harmonies. (Think Toro y Moi meets Enya.) Beautifully articulated, the vocals boast spectacular power and range; so much so that every track on the record could be performed a capella and remain equally captivating. The instrumentation, which looks toward the music of the 1980s as a reference point, borrows as much from New Order as it does from R&B. The result is gorgeous.
Cuts such as “Shield and Sword” and “Way Too Fast” bathe in waves of digitized R&B, while tracks such as “Lady Luck” and “The Boy Is Mine” expand Grossi’s already-sensitive emotional range, touching upon themes of unrequited love, embracing isolation and spirituality. There, he turns the studio into a sanctuary and the song into a hushed prayer. The effect is chilling; enough to convert the most hardened of nonbelievers.
Although powerful, Grossi’s Heaven is not a place of dancing. It is a place of somber reflection. The laptop-powered R&B hooks of Curtis Lane have given way to denser, darker sounds. Compelling? Yes. Inspiring? Yes. Booty-shaking? Unlikely. (Although, tracks such as “Hanging On” are vaguely funky.) At times, it becomes difficult to find a logical beat that ties the song together. However, this seems to be the point– You Are All I See is more mood than music; more prayer than performance.
Equally heartwrenching and disorienting, You Are All I See is the sound of Grossi expelling his demons in a cathedral. Each element on the album is a display of striking contrast— from the warm harp-playing (move over, Joanna Newsom) clashing against icy drum machine clicks, to the profoundly religious delivery of secular musings. But most importantly, these contradictions sound terrific, which begs the listener to question: why aren’t more choir boys in bands?
Active Child – You Are All I See tracklist:
- “You Are All I See”
- “Hanging On”
- “Playing House”
- “See Thru Eyes”
- “High Priestess”
- “Ivy”
- “Way Too Fast”
- “Ancient Eye”
- “Shield and Sword”
- “Johnny Belinda”
