Ra Ra Riot
Need Your Light
BARSUK
6/10
The literal act of walking backwards never feels natural. Stepping in a direction you can’t see—toe to heel—you’re mostly just hoping you don’t trip over yourself. Somehow moving forward while facing the way they came, Ra Ra Riot take some very nimble steps on their fourth studio album, Need Your Light. Featuring not only collaborative assistance from each producer of the band’s previous three albums, but also former Vampire Weekend member Rostam Batmanglij (the other half of frontman Wes Miles’ side-project Discovery), Ra Ra Riot’s journeyed state of identity—adapting to several lost members of the years, incorporating synthesizers to their original baroque pop sound—has managed to culminate in their most balanced record to date. Thrumming with such an organic mix of digital and classical elements, the band should feel assured enough from this point on to turn their feet properly—one in front of the other.
