The Rapture have always been dab hands at producing sophisticated, albeit slightly shallow, indie dance rock. And yet, much like The Horrors and their recent ‘Album of the Year’ candidate Skying, The Rapture have added significant depth to their oeuvre with In The Grace Of Your Love.
Their first record since 2006’s Pieces Of The People We Love finds vocalist Luke Jenner in wistful form, his lyrics suggesting he’s lost more than his bass player over the past five years. But where there is melancholy there is also a new confidence, perhaps most evident in opener ‘Sail Away’. At just under five-and-a-half minutes, it’s not the most obvious candidate to kick things off – but that’s the point. It’s a slow burner, but one that resonates and sets the tone for an album that is more concerned with emotion than hooks.

That said, there are enough refined rhythmic exercises (it’s doubtful, incidentally, that you’ll hear more polished bass guitar production all year, unless there’s a surprise Paul McCartney release) to sate your dancefloor cravings, not least on the lead single ‘How Deep Is Your Love?’ – a sprawling epic that drips with accusatory sentiment.
Jenner’s passion is admirable, particularly on the soul-searching title track. But, like any treatise on the multi-layered subject of love, there are occasional misfires. ‘Miss You’ feels much too literal, while ‘Come Back To Me’ meanders to the point of resembling an amateur remix.

That’s the thing about matters of the heart. Imperfection and euphoria walk hand in hand. The Rapture may have made a louder noise, but they’ve never sounded so alive.