The Details

Passion Pit

Gossamer

Passion Pit’s second album, Gossamer, was recorded under such unsettling circumstances—repeat visits to mental hospitals, random suicide attempts, too much medication and pricey gin—that it’s a wonder the thing sounds as fun as it does. Somehow frontman Michael Angelakos, who suffers from bipolar disorder, has turned a very autobiographical work into a fine backdrop for summertime driving.

Singing in a slightly less manic version of the crackpot falsetto that made 2009’s Manners so memorable, Angelakos still specializes in more-is-more, electro-pop bombast. Moments like “Carried Away” and “Mirrored Sea” are large and luminous enough to give your ears a sunburn, and even the heaviest lyrics (“And then I’m lifted up/Out of the crimson tub”) are buoyed by moments of resilience (“All these demons/I can beat them”). Angelakos recently told Pitchfork, “I don’t see myself living very long,” but Gossamer makes you hope the guy’s just being overly dramatic.