Over their 10-year career, Ra Ra Riot have presented two extreme versions of themselves. On one end there is their 2008 breakout The Rhumb Line, an orchestral pop record distinguished by collegiate literary references and scarred by trauma. On the other is 2009’s "Can You Discover?," a synthy, Auto-Tuned reworking of one of their debut’s tracks by Discovery, a collaboration between frontman Wes Miles and former Vampire Weekend member Rostam Batmanglij. In between these two poles, Ra Ra Riot have struggled for balance. Their sophomore record The Orchard played it safe, not falling too far from the tree of its predecessor, while their 2013 foray into electro-pop, Beta Love, explored an abundance of new sounds but lacked cohesion.
On Need Your Light, they finally hit the sweet spot. Working once again with Rostam, they key back into the chirpy, buoyant electronics of "Can You Discover?" and blend them with the string-heavy compositions of The Rhumb Line. The result could sit comfortably next to Passion Pit. On Beta Love, Miles’ vocals occasionally drifted into uncanny-valley territory, but Need Your Light brings him back down to Earth. On "Water," Miles’ falsetto constricts as he sings "Don’t punish me for what I feel" and then tightens even further to near-desperation as he imagines crawling out the back door, ripping off his tight clothes, and leaping into the water. "I Need Your Light" (also by Batmanglij) is the record’s biggest showstopper, with Miles’ voice repeating the title until it swells from a wisp into a belting, burning swan song.
But rather than feeling like outliers, the Rostam-produced tracks fit in well with the remaining eight songs produced by Ryan Hadlock, which lean toward a more traditional Ra Ra Riot mix of tight instrumentation embellished with processed flourishes. All the synths are large and loud, the violins glittering, and any memories of calm are quickly overshadowed by the music's insistent "dance yourself clean" imperative. "Instant Breakup" blooms slowly, hand claps and heavy drums creeping in before twisting into a synthy sugar spiral. The chorus of "Every Time I’m Ready to Hug" is an invitation to dance until your limbs are tangled.
Thematically, most of the 10 tracks on Need Your Light suggest taking a leap of faith—in this case, putting trust in love. The lyrics tilt towards the anthemic and dramatic: "'Cause I can’t see nothing without your light," "Love will get me up again," "I wanna know that love can change you." "Absolutely"’s lyrics, however, resemble a painful drunken New Year’s proclamation: "It’s the year of/ Absolutely being/ Absolutely nothing/ Absolutely crushing/ Absolutely everything/ Absolutely loving." On a bright record full of balanced sweetness, it’s the only moment that cloys, a reminder of the missteps that brought Ra Ra Riot here.
