According to Michael Angelakos, the man behind indietronica giant Passion Pit, “no one wants you to be successful in this world.” If you know anything about Angelakos’ private life, which was rendered public by 2012’s successful “Gossamer” and a tell-all interview with Pitchfork Magazine, then this cynical comment won’t surprise you.
Angelakos suffers from bipolar disorder, and the morning after his first interview with Pitchfork decided to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge so he could “go out on a high note.” But in light of Passion Pit’s newly released album,
“Kindred,” it’s harder to believe that Angelakos still really means it.
“Lifted Up (1985)”, the first track of “Kindred,” is a celebration dedicated to Angelakos’ wife, Kristy Mucci, for helping him through the darkness of his mental illness. “Gossamer” revealed a guilt-ridden and directionless Angelakos buried beneath cheery pop melodies. “Kindred,” in a mere 38 minutes, covers the three years he spent trading guilt for gratitude.
Angelakos has said that the honesty of “Gossamer” helped him confront his demons, but in “Whole Life Story,” he exposes the other side of the coin, apologizing for the spotlight he put on his wife when he shed light on his own issues. Ultimately, he urges her to accept the limelight: “We’ve got nothing to hide / Just give it some more time.”
Sonically, “Kindred” is calmer and less frenzied than previous Passion Pit albums. All of the hand claps, snaps, galactic electronic starbursts, and bright tones are readily available for the band’s veterans to enjoy, but these are markedly subdued. “Dancing on the Graves” is the biggest departure from Passion Pit’s previous canon of jingly dance jams. It sounds like an intro that lasts the length of a song, which may disappoint some fans who listen for all the bells and whistles of an electronic parade. It’s the closest thing to “acoustic” that you could ask of a Passion Pit track, with Angelakos’ vocals taking center stage, accompanied by a softened synth and light keyboard. Across the entire album, Angelakos’ voice does more of the heavy lifting to give us the ear candy that Passion Pit’s electric light show usually provides.
This is especially true of “Looks Like Rain,” a melancholy prayer that features a trilling falsetto rather than a clamour of synth. The instrumental interludes sound like a Passion Pit song played in reverse, reminding us of earlier albums but staying consistent with the theme of progress. The lyrics describe Angelakos’ wish that the clouds of his mental instability would disperse forever. There’s a kind of acceptance that, even after he finds salvation, life will not always be as bright as the typical sun-flooded Passion Pit song would suggest. The theme of salvation appears again in “My Brother Taught Me How to Swim,” which presents us with a Christ figure who Angelakos says “washed away all my sins.” Here he struggles with the concept of sacrificial love, aware that this love saved has him, but afraid to “give away the love” he has tried for so long to accept.
The severely auto-tuned “Ten Feet Tall (II)” is the most suspect track on the album; thematically it resolves the nine previous songs, but its heavy-handed treatment of Angelakos’ voice is unlike anything else on the record. In it, he resolves to continue making music, but causes us to question the direction in which Passion Pit’s next work will go.
“Kindred” is an album which rewards us on each repeated listen, and, like its title suggests, develops a warm familiarity and intimacy. Although the album takes a more somber approach to Passion Pit’s classically euphoric and airy sound, morsels like “Until We Can’t (Let’s Go)” and “Five Foot Ten (I)” deliver the shimmering dance tracks that we want from Passion Pit. “Kindred” has much of the sweetness of past albums, but with less danger of giving its listener a sugar rush.
Sara Chojnacki is a senior studying English and French from East Troy, Wisconsin.