The Rapture, “Never Die Again” (2011)
find it on In The Grace Of Your Love

Lately, the first word that pop into my head when I’m looking for descriptions is “restrained”. I don’t know what’s going on in the recording studios of the world, but it sounds like there’s a whole lot of people in 2011 who are really afraid to totally let go. It can be frustrating (why do drums so often sound choked and a little slower than you want them?) but not as bad of a description as it sounds. For example, Little Dragon has turned holding back into something really beautiful.

The Rapture has done it pretty well as well. I find myself listening to their new record wishing that it was just a little faster, a little more reckless, but I can appreciate that the sound is their own and that songs like “Never Die Again” are made for cranked-up speakers and not headphones in otherwise-quiet rooms. The yodeling chorus will surely anthem up some dancefloors around the country and the horns’ll get you moving even if you’re sitting, even as you wonder how great it’ll sound loud.