Gossamer - Passion Pit
Metascore
76 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 36
  3. Negative: 1 out of 36
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  1. Pitchfork
    Jul 23, 2012
    84
    Anyone can manufacture hope through a slogan, but there's an empathy and humanity that simply can't be faked as Angelakos tries to figure out how to stay atop his life. It's hard to think of a more noble goal for a pop album.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Jul 24, 2012
    91
    Despite the emphasis on struggle, Gossamer couldn't sound more assured.
  3. Paste Magazine
    Jul 24, 2012
    84
    Passion Pit is only getting better.
  4. The Boston Phoenix
    Jul 19, 2012
    88
    The revelation in Gossamer is Angelakos's inner voice.
  5. Beats Per Minute (formerly One Thirty BPM)
    Jul 20, 2012
    81
    It has clearly come from a very damaged part of Angelakos' psyche, but Gossamer is a step up in sophistication and songcraft, and one of the year's stronger pop albums.
  6. Billboard.com
    Jul 24, 2012
    85
    An album that required a painstaking process to complete but sounds infinitely effortless in its pop arrangements and flicked-off soul ruminations.
  7. Chicago Tribune
    Jul 23, 2012
    88
    The onetime bedroom artist now makes first-rate pop anthems, gleaming rocketships of sound that wouldn't sound out of place on the radio next to Rihanna or Nicki Minaj. The tone might seem out of step with the lyrics, but it speaks to a certain resilience.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.9 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 76 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 13
  3. Negative: 1 out of 13
  1. Frogmime
    10
    Passion Pit's best! This album really rocks! This gotta have to be in the best albums of 2012! Alonh with Lana del rey's Born to Die and Kimbra's Vows!… Full Review »
  2. Jerem
    10
    Superbe album de Passion Pit ! ideal pour partir en vacances c'est frais et joyeux!
    Je le trouve encore meilleur que manners.Un de mes albums     preferé de l'année!!!… Full Review »
  3. Professahex
    9
    I have been waiting for new music from Passion Pit for what seems now like decades. Well, not exactly its only been three years. But memories of sitting on a carpeted floor, half-passed out in some either drug or alcohol induced trance at a friends house during my junior year of college seem too far gone.However, I can still feel the lollapalooza of emotion rush over my body with excitement and shear happiness upon my ears first introduction to the song Sleepy Head. As the high pitched sample in the background laid a base of enchantment accompanied by lead singer Michael Angelakos equally ear shattering high pitched voice I would automatically thrash my head around. A smooth mix of gleaming bells, a strong kick of drum. and more synth than you can shake a stick at (whatever that means) to boot. Ahhhhhhhh, memories. Before it was used in like a thousand commercials. The new album, Gossamer, carries on the high level of synth induced uplifted-ness and wonderment. However, there might not be a song on it that reaches the extreme peak of SleepyHead, though many of the tracks come dangerously close. The one that comes the closest is Mirrored Sea which feels like your stuck inside a vintage Japanese video game, trapped in a fast paced,triangular rocketship blasting through a 16 bit universe. Or like playing that ninja game in SCOTT PILGRIM running in place in ninjastance en route to fight evil forces. Not to say Mirrored Sea is necessarily the standout song of the album as this poppy hit riddled 12 track album is full of musical aptitude. My favorite is Constant Conversations which might as well be categorized as R&B will its mellow groove, possible moog created baseline, pizzicato strings, electronic creamy rhodes, and a few accenting piano keys drifting downward to emphasize the romantic beauty-scape. However, the lyrics sound like more of a doubting in the realness of the words being said to and from those in relationships, he might even be drunk in the first verse. Actually, if you listen closely for an indie/synthpop album the topics and overall feel of the lyrics of this album are against the pop grain. While happy, upbeat notes are struck strategically in the background, in the foreground Angelakos is dealing mostly with pain, struggle, fears, anxiety of losing control, and the true meaning of love which is greed. The latter is actually the name of a song called, of course, Love is Greed. "If we really love ourselves/ how can you love somebody else," Angelakos sings to depict the selfishness in wanting to have ownership over another person. My ears are happy again especially since MGMT's second album Congratulations was a bit of a let down. And not to mention its been 8 years since Empire of the Sun's Walking on a Dream was released. I would definitely say that Gossamer is a positive progression on Passion Pit's behalf and I'm proud to see them grow with out loosing their touch. Second albums are such critical moments in a bands career as high expectations can cause crippling results in direction of music as well as reception. Luckily, Passion Pit has passed the test. If anything the title GOSSAMER makes a mockery of such an opposed, strong album.… Full Review »
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