You Are All I See

Audio Mixer: Dave Shiffman.Recording information: Slow Death Studios, Echo Park, CA; Sun Rooms Studios, Pasadena, CA; Sunset Lodge Studios, Hollywood, CA.Thanks to both a strong initial EP in Curtis Lane and equally remarkable live appearances, expectations for Active Child's debut album were quite high. What's really remarkable is how well You Are All I See not only matches but almost exceeds those expectations: its a full-length statement of purpose that manages the trick of both identifying an aesthetic and exploring variations within it. Pat Grossi's remarkable singing voice remains the understandable centerpiece, a sweet, simply gorgeous falsetto that begs comparisons to more contemporary acts like Antony and the Johnsons and Bon Iver, but more accurately calls to mind the pristine singing of Morten Harket of a-ha. Yet even Harket's work never quite had the sheer, clean beauty of Grossi's, evident right from the start with the title track kicking in with a now trademark collage of