For the first time in five years, seasoned dance-punk veterans The Rapture have returned to the musical sphere with a new album and an evolved sound. “In The Grace of Your Love” finds the New York trio, composed of guitarist and vocalist Luke Jenner, drummer and percussionist Vito Roccoforte and keyboardist and bassist Gabriel Andruzzi eschewing the “punk” part of its sound in favor of a more dance-oriented album which relies on keyboards and synthesizers to create a far mellower atmosphere than the band’s previous two efforts.
The album opens with the track “Sail Away,” one of the faster songs on the album. From the onset, one of the hallmarks of the album is the shift in lead singer Jenner’s voice. In previous releases, he delivered his lyrics in a punkish, frantic yelp, whereas “In The Grace of Your Love” features vocals that are far more relaxed and melodic.
The Rapture showcases its newfound emphasis on the dance aspect of its sound on tracks like “Miss You” and “Come Back to Me,” both club-friendly romps featuring much more danceable beats and abundant synthesizers. The songs are catchy, fresh and energetic enough to avoid sounding too stale and generic.
“Blue Bird” and “Roller Coaster” are the two songs on the album closest to being classifiable as “punk,” with driving drum lines and more pronounced guitar riffs. However, both tracks still lack the frantic and urgent feel of some of the band’s earlier releases.
The album’s title track “In The Grace of Your Love” is a down-tempo cut featuring equal parts of guitar and synth blended with Jenner’s haunting vocals. The song provides a fitting centerpiece for the album, both lyrically and sonically.
Not all of The Rapture’s attempts at creating danceable music hit the mark. The album reaches a low point with the track “Never Gonna Die Again,” a song with a stereotypical dance beat, excessive synth use and cookie-cutter dance vocals that make it sound like a hackneyed 1980s synth-pop radio hit that only gets more boring with each successive listen.
“In The Grace of Your Love” ends on an undoubtedly high note, with the band saving its two best and most adventurous songs for last.
The penultimate track, “How Deep is Your Love?,” is the album’s most exciting song and Jenner’s best vocal performance. It fosters a dance-friendly atmosphere, with a looped piano riff and clap track anchoring the song throughout. At around the four minute mark, the song breaks into an extended two-minute saxophone solo that lasts for the rest of the song, adding yet another instrumental layer to an already sonically complex song.
The album ends with “It Takes Time to Be a Man,” its most experimental and unorthodox song. It features an acoustic, piano-driven riff, as well as the most complex rhythmic pattern found on the album. The saxophone makes another appearance toward the end of the song, which eventually fades out with a piano and saxophone-driven outro.
“In The Grace of Your Love” makes stylistic shifts that some long-time fans of the band may not welcome, but the outcome is The Rapture’s most accessible album to date.
Email Somasundaram at nsomasundaram@media.ucla.edu.