Active Child - You Are All I See
This is an album which hits you with its musical themes just about instantly - after one harpsichord like keyboard note you are abruptly hit with actual harps tinkling all over the place and synths imitating wheezing brass instruments. Soon enough that's joined by retro synth drums and Pat Grossi's voice, which is high pitched, otherworldy and amazing and accounts for a lot of Active Child's appeal. Think Wild Beasts or Antony Hegarty but without the bleating quality. The opening (title) track slowly unfurls as a gorgeous reverie, highly strung both emotionally and musically.
It very much sets the tone for the whole album, but his is an unusual and rewarding sound and merits the full exploration that it gets. "Playing House" sees him joined by fellow traveller How to Dress Well and more closely approaches pop though twists it into strange shapes. Instrumental "Ivy" is a bigger showcase for the harp before plunging it into synth fuzz.
Every song contributes to the overall mood and has its own spin on the sound but "Way Too Fast" is probably the biggest highlight. It reaches dramatic heights even greater than the rest of the album through its slowly creeping melody and some really amazing choral vocal effects as Grossi sings about a relationship which is going wrong but he can't do anything to stop, sounding regretful, bitter and scarily vengeful in turns.
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