Led by Italian-born, NYC-based singer-songwriter Mauro Remiddi, Porcelain Raft features open-wound lyrics floating in reverb. The band's sophomore LP vibrates at times with painfully slow tension, then picks up with crashing beats, then cools off with gentle piano and horns.
Remiddi's tenor rings clear, especially on the tragic "I Lost Connection" and the final, heart-wrenching track, "Echo." While the album occasionally feels like a soundtrack to the sweatpants-and-cereal stage of a bad breakup, highlights like "The Way Out" (the video for which made news for its portrayal of a stripper followed back to her room by a creepy patron) show off Remiddi's skill for provocative, intelligent writing.
