It's kind of hard to believe that New York's Rapture have been around since 1998. Once hailed by some writers as the second coming of Gang of Four, the Rapture were the flagship band of the post-punk revival that swept through the indie underground during the early 2000s. They debuted on Sub-Pop with an EP, added keyboards, were produced by DFA, and blew up with "The House of Jealous Lovers", an infectious punky dance anthem of 2003. The album Pieces of the People We Love followed, which had a couple of top 40 singles in the U.K.Pieces of the People We Love, was released three years later by Mercury and involved production input from Ewan Pearson, Danger Mouse, and Paul Epworth. Tapes, a stylistically broad mix album, came out through !K7 in 2008. Safer left the following year and it would be two more years before the band would release another studio album.
In the Grace of Your Love is a more mature Rapture than we have seen before. The opening track, "Sail Away" makes me think of "Come Sail Away" by STYX, a concern initially. However, it features singer Luke Jenner straining to hit the high notes, completely unlike STYX. Yet I kind of like that aspect of that song. Nearly a decade after "Jealous Lovers", they're a patient, skilled rock band unafraid to look uncool.
Listen to How Deep is Your Love? and get sucked into their piano-driven tour de force here.
Buy your copy of the Rapture's In the Grace of Your Love here.
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