The Rapture: In the Grace of Your Love

Perhaps in a bid to distance themselves from the styles that have become so often aped by others, the group has returned with a collection of pallid and directionless jams.

In the Grace of Your Love
DFA
??

Imagine if the past decade of indie music could be distilled down to a single band. Such a group would almost certainly hail from New York and boast a sound that mixes post-punk guitars, disco drums, electro synths and screechy vocals.

And they would probably model themselves on The Rapture. With singles House of Jealous Lovers and Sister Saviour, the group's 2002 breakthrough album, Echoes, was a critical smash and set the blueprint for countless other bands. Their 2006 follow-up Pieces of People We Love included a smattering of loose party favourites, but failed to recapture the fire of The Rapture's debut. Which brings us to the colossal disappointment of In the Grace of Your Love.

Perhaps in a bid to distance themselves from the shredding guitars and thumping bass lines that were so often aped by others, the group has returned with a collection of pallid and directionless jams. Like many of the songs on the album, the opener Sail Away starts promisingly enough, but quickly grows limp and tiresome.

But it's nothing compared with the tedious and stilted Miss You or the watery psych of Roller Coaster. Far better is Come Back to Me, with its cut-up accordion and sparse beats. Some flickers of the once-great band can also be found in lead single How Deep is Your Love? with its glorious 1990s keyboard refrain and bass line that harks back to Jealous Lovers. But as the penultimate song, it's doubtful anyone will get far enough through this dreary record to hear it.