“You And I Know ” - Ra Ra Riot (from The Orchard)
Although my initial impressions of Ra Ra Riot’s sophomore album The Orchard (due for release on August 24th) are fairly mixed, there are few stand out tracks that I do like quite a bit. ”Boy”, the first single, is not only the strongest track, but also the one that lovers of the band’s core chamber pop sound will probably find very familiar and pleasing. The band has made “Boy” available for free over at their website, so go on and take advantage of that if you don’t have it yet.
The problem with the first single, however, is that is isn’t really indicative of the rest of the album, which is slower, more introspective, and a bit darker than their debut, The Rhumb Line. But even if everything doesn’t always work for me I appreciate that the band is trying some new things, and giving their cellist the mic on “You and I Know” is one of the changes that works. It’s a grower - very pretty, a little sad, and builds to a satisfying, lovely end.
