I really liked the last Active Child album. It was like all the best things about 80’s music were extracted and then perfectly blended with modern themes in music. The lyrics were haunting, fun, dower and exciting while the instrumentation was dark, melodic, and quirky. As an entire piece of work, You Are All I See, was a fantastic album. The new Rapor EP… not so much.
The opening track, “She Cut Me”, is what I would consider classic Active Child at this point. It has that haunted melody I love of his and it got me really excited for the rest of the EP. I thought maybe Pat Grossi had taken a bit of a darker turn with his music which, to be completely honest, I was hoping for. However that hope was dashed to pieces as soon as the next track, “Subtle”, started playing. This track is basically the worst of 90’s R&B wrapped up in some Casio sound effects and accompanied by what sounds like a Michael Jackson impersonator (Mikky Ekko) complete with background Sha-na-na-na-na-nas. It’s safe to say it’s my least favorite song on this EP.
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However, the biggest surprise is definitely “Silhouette” which features Ellie Goulding. I thought I would hate this song, but I actually ended up liking it quite a bit. The instrumentation alone is fantastic with the layering of sounds and styles that are a bit a-typical to that “Active Child sound”. It’s also just pretty damn rad to see a super popular artist like Goudling, who covered AC’s “Hanging On”, collaborating with a relatively unknown artist that she obviously admires. I’m not the biggest Goulding fan (can’t really stand her music to be honest), but huge kudos to her for this.
.Without a doubt my favorite track is “Evening Ceremony”, the last track on the album. It’s very soulful, beautiful and tragic all at once. This is the one track that feels like a true extension of the last album. It’s exactly what I was expecting and makes me really look forward to his next release. The other two songs on the EP I didn’t touch on (“Feeling Is Gone” and “Calling In The Name of Love”) are just okay. Didn’t love them, didn’t hate them, they just didn’t do much for me.
If you’re a fan of Active Child definitely give it a listen. You might have a different opinion than me and you might love this album, but if you’re new to Active Child then I would HIGHLY suggest listening to You Are All I See first. It’s miles better.
Rating: 3/5