The Rapture - In the Grace of Your Love

(DFA)

Don’t go into this third album by New York’s sometime disco-punk mavericks expecting the uplifting Chicago house keys of comeback single ‘How Deep is Your Love?’ and you’ll be fine. That the second and most recent of their club-friendly earlier albums, Pieces of the People We Love, was five years ago is enough to earn this record ‘long-awaited’ status, and there are heavy hints of glories past in the euphoric opener ‘Sail Away’ and the glam rumble of ‘Miss You’. Mostly, though, it’s a further example of The Rapture’s willingness to operate with one or both feet off the dancefloor, from the weirdly accordion-led house of ‘Come Back to Me’ to the Beatles-style concept pop of ‘Roller Coaster’ and the graceful, hesitant balladry of closer ‘It Takes Time to Be a Man’.