Passion Pit
Gossamer

What is the factor that most influences us in evaluating an album? I'd say the expectations you may have before a release. The mental hype counts more than the album itself, because a mediocre album from a great band is garbage, while discovering a decent debut work makes you proclaim it the masterpiece of the "next big thing."

Passion Pit weren't on my radar of interests, so much so that this "Gossamer" wasn't on my listening or purchase agenda. A few days ago, randomly surfing the net, I read about the mental health issues of the frontman, Micheal Angelakos. Later, on that damned tube channel called VEVO, the first single from "Gossamer," titled "Take a Walk", was highlighted, and I listened to it just for the sake of it. Perhaps influenced by what I had read, the song and the video gave me mixed feelings: lightness and melancholy, sadness and carefreeness.

It's inevitable that the mental hype can at some point take over reason, so I really liked this single for some indescribable reason. So I searched for the album in streaming for a quick initial listen and didn't get a great impression. Repeatedly listening to "I’ll Be Alright" seems to help me absorb the sounds more, and I feel like giving "Gossamer" another chance. I haven't regretted it at all.

"Gossamer" teaches that if you have a problem, you must keep smiling at life, not to deceive others, but to strengthen yourself. I keep it among the best, for me, albums of the year (so far) along with Maccabees, alt-J, Enter Shikari, Neil Young, and Cribs.