Passion Pit - Gossamer (2012) [FLAC]

  Genre: Rock
  Styles: Alternative, Indie Electronic
  Source: CD (log + cue) 
  Codec: FLAC
  Bit rate: ~ 900 kbps 
  Bit depth: 16
  Sample rate: 44.1 kHz

  01 Take a Walk
  02 I’ll Be Alright
  03 Carried Away
  04 Constant Conversations
  05 Mirrored Sea
  06 Cry Like a Ghost
  07 On My Way
  08 Hideaway
  09 Two Veils to Hide My Face
  10 Love Is Greed
  11 Its Not My Fault I’m Happy
  12 Where We Belong

  Like 2009's Manners, Passion Pit's sophomore outing is a fat thunderclap of soulful, echo-boom electro-pop that's as poisonous as it is precious, pounding out twinkling summer dance hymns that frame Michael Angelakos' elastic falsetto against a buttermilk sky that’s secretly teeming with ominous storm clouds. With Gossamer, Angelakos' angst is pushed even further to the forefront, revealing an artist who doesn't just moonlight as a professional demon wrestler, but puts in a full day's work. Despite the flurry of pre-release woes (canceled shows, lengthy hospital stays, and the revelation of a botched, early suicide attempt, the latter of which is examined in great detail on the visceral and vulnerable closer "Where We Belong"), Gossamer is a triumph of youthful, bipolar tenacity that filters its manic energy through a cosmopolitan prism of pop avenues, from silky neo-soul ("Constant Conversation") to shimmery Jónsi-inspired synth pop ("Take a Walk"), the latter of which takes a third-person approach, weaving a tale of a husband and father's desperation in trying to make sense of his own actions in the midst of a recession's relentless, bloodied backhand. Angelakos' pathos aside, musically, Gossamer bristles with the kind of accessible pop luminosity that's usually relegated to barren Top 40 nonsense, but Angelakos and company know what constitutes a proper earworm, and effortless, infectious cuts like "I'll Be Alright," "Carried Away," "It's Not My Fault, I'm Happy," and the aforementioned "Constant Conversation" latch on to the cochlea like a xenomorph with a taste for Fun., Phoenix, and the Lightning Seeds. Though the environment that birthed the appropriately titled Gossamer may be a bummer, the end product is winningly majestic and brilliantly spun