The Rapture

New York indie rock band The Rapture pioneered the post-punk revival of the early 2000s- mixing influences from many genres including post-punk, acid house, disco, electronica and rock. It’s been over five years since the band completed work on their second album, “Pieces Of The People We Love”, but though it might sound strange, the half-decade that followed may in retrospect turn out to be the most productive and important of their career.

This is, after all, a band whose 2003 DFA-produced debut, “Echoes”, was the focus of an extreme label bidding war and went on to earn Pitchfork’s Album Of The Year accolade, helping to define an entire musical movement and giving the world a timeless classic, “House of Jealous Lovers”, in the process. The follow-up, “Pieces Of The People We Love”, was produced by three of the world’s finest - Danger Mouse, Ewan Pearson and Paul Epworth - and effortlessly went on to hit the No.1 spot in the Billboard Heatseeker’s Chart.

Half a decade on and their third album is evidence that it’s time for a second coming. Last year’s “In The Grace Of Your Love”, recorded following the 2009 departure of bassist and vocalist Mattie Safer, is a record every bit as joyful as the band’s name would have you expect: the sound of a band set free. Though Luke Jenner identifies forgiveness as the dominant theme of the record, there’s another unifying thread that runs through it, and that’s the sense of elation at the heart of even the most poignant tracks.