Active Child: You Are All I See

Active Child
You Are All I See
Rating: Grrrr

Active Child (Pat Grossi's one man project) follows up the Curtis Lane EP with his full length debut, You Are All I See, which streamlines the angelic dream pop of the former into a gorgeous collection of tracks that hover on the edge of precious, but always retain an edge of distant melancholy that keeps the project from becoming cloying. Grossi, harpist and former choir boy, doesn't really fall neatly into a genre at all, the songs here draw equally from chillwave, shoegaze, dream pop, fractured R&B, and gauzy electronica, all of which are bound to each other by Grossi's gorgeous falsetto (sounding like a distant cousin to Antony Hegarty) and trills of heavenly harp. This is likely music for heaven's waiting room, evident from the opening title track, making it seem like St. Peter is opening the gates personally for you. The harps float effortlessly over a background of twinkling synths and delayed guitar, with Grossi's multi-tracked vocals performing as heavenly choir.



First single, "Hanging On," , takes the template laid forth in "You Are All I See" and ratchets it up several notches, adding skittering beats, Grossi providing baritone as counterpoint, the haunting interplay back and forth between the different vocals is intoxicating.



The album soars when Grossi does the unexpected. Collaborating with How To Dress Well's Tom Krell on "Playing House" adds a different layer to the mix. Krell's equally distinctive falsetto shouldn't work, however, it's slightly rough, auto-tuned addition rubs against Grossi's voice in a creative way.



The delicate, plaintive "High Priestess" uses an achingly operatic vocal turn from Grossi, adding gravitas and deeper meaning to the lyrics searching for a meaning in life.



"Shield and Sword" gets darker and more Fever Ray meets electro, crisp electronic percussion bounded by dark, throbbing electronics, the light emerging from the dim from Grossi's voice and harp fills.



The journey ending with this year's most hauntingly beautiful song "Johnny Belinda," a slow building track of dark strings, slowly merging in harp punctuation and Grossi's other-worldly falsetto, his heart torn out, unable to obtain the object of his affections:

"Wish that I could give it all
Wish that I was strong enough
Wish that I could change enough
To be yours."



The remaining tracks, while not achieving the heights of these standouts, have their own charms, from the M83 referencing instrumental "Ivy," hymn-like "Way Too Fast," and gorgeous ballad "See Thru Eyes."



You Are All I See is a good entry to Active Child's sound. The Curtis Lane EP, to me, felt a little too overstuffed and busy. Over an album's length of tracks, Grossi is able to be as leisurely as he likes, and the resulting freedom works perfectly with his aesthetic. His sound is very distinctive and sets him apart from most of the crop of electronic albums coming out lately. This distinctiveness is refreshing, and makes You Are All I See one of this year's standout albums.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.