Passion Pit is an American indie pop band from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Formed in 2007, frontman and keyboardist Michael Angelakos is the band's primary recording member. As a touring act, the band currently consists of Angelakos (vocals, synthesiser), Chris Hartz (drums), Aaron Harrison Folb (bass, synthesiser), Giuliano Pizzulo (guitar, synthesiser), and Ray Suen (guitars, synthesiser).
The band released their debut studio album Manners in 2009. A second album entitled Gossamer was released in 2012, which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and gave the band their first top 10 album. Kindred, the band's third album, was released on April 17, 2015. Their fourth album, Tremendous Sea of Love, was self-released by the band in 2017.
History
Early years and Chunk of Change: 2007–2009
The band formed in 2007.[1] The band culled their name from the Variety Slanguage Dictionary, a glossary of Variety's frequently used slang, which was provided by the Hollywood insider publication to help not-so-savvy readers decipher its content. The magazine used the term to refer to drive-in theatres, because of their privacy and romantic allure for teenagers.[2][3][4]
The first Passion Pit songs, which would later become the Chunk of Change EP, were written by Angelakos at Emerson College as a belated Valentine's Day gift to his then-girlfriend. At first, he wrote and performed all his material alone using a laptop. After one of his solo shows in the Boston area, Ian Hultquist, who was attending Berklee College of Music at the time, approached Angelakos and expressed interest in creating and playing music collaboratively.[3] They formed a group that consisted of Angelakos,[5] Hultquist, Ayad Al Adhamy, Thom Plasse (bass), and Adam Lavinsky (drums).[6] The band spent a considerable amount of time trying to flesh out a collaborative format and structure that would work best for them. Jeff Apruzzese and Nate Donmoyer joined the band shortly after they signed to Frenchkiss in 2008, replacing Plasse and Lavinsky, respectively.[4][7] In 2012, Adhamy was replaced by Xander Singh.
The band's debut EP, Chunk of Change, was released on September 16, 2008.[8] The first four tracks were those that Angelakos had written as a gift for his girlfriend. The tracks quickly became popular throughout the Emerson College campus, where Angelakos was attending classes at the time, and had been passing out his own, self-produced copies. Two tracks, "Sleepyhead" and "Better Things", were added for the commercial release of the EP.[9] The same year of their debut EP's release, the band was chosen as "Best New Local Act in 2008" in the WFNX/Boston Phoenix best music poll.[8]
Passion Pit in 2008
The first and only single to be released from the EP, "Sleepyhead", received a good deal of exposure through its use in numerous media campaigns and advertisements, while the video for the song, directed by The Wilderness, was included on Pitchfork's Top 40 Music Videos of 2008 list.[10] The song contains samples of "Óró Mo Bháidín" by Irish singer and harpist Mary O'Hara.[11]
Other songs from the EP received some exposure as well. "Cuddle Fuddle" was featured in E4's second series of The Inbetweeners and "I've Got Your Number" was used in an advertisement for the cash card from O2, Money in the UK.
Manners: 2009–2011
The band's first full-length studio album, Manners, was released on May 18, 2009, in the UK and May 19, 2009, in the United States and Canada.[12] In celebration, the band played their record release party on the 18th in New York City on a Rocks Off boat cruise.[13] In a preview article, ClashMusic.com commented that the album "has every chance to rank as one of the year's best" and that "it reveals additional nuances with each visit: a sure-fire sign of an album with true longevity".[14]
In order to obtain a specific background vocal accompaniment the band was looking for on Manners, Passion Pit enlisted the help of the PS22 chorus, who recorded vocals in-studio for three of the album's songs: "The Reeling", "Little Secrets", and "Let Your Love Grow Tall."[15] "The Reeling" was the first single to be released from the album and found success on the BillboardAlternative Songs chart in the fall of 2009, where it peaked at No. 34 in October[16] and "Little Secrets" was the third single to be released and had success on the chart as well, topping out at No. 39. "Let Your Love Grow Tall" was never released as a single but had some exposure being used in the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of the TV series Ugly Betty.
The album's second single, "To Kingdom Come", was used in the Rhapsody commercial for its iPhone application.
"Sleepyhead" was the only track from Chunk of Change to be included on the album and was made available from iTunes for free as a discovery download in 2009. The song continued to receive additional exposure through its appearances in advertisements. It was used in the third series of the British teen drama Skins, as well as in the debut trailer for the video game LittleBigPlanet 2.[17] This led to the band's increased popularity amongst fans and players of the game, who eventually created an in-game instrumental version of the song to listen to in the first game. When the sequel was released, it came with the song's actual instrumental version used in the trailer.
The song "Moth's Wings" was used in the fourth episode of the third season of the CW teen drama Gossip Girl and in the closing credits of episode 36 of HBO's Big Love. It appeared in the FIFA 10 video game and was included in the films Life As We Know It and Wonder. It has also been used as a background theme for Sky Sports coverage of the UEFA Champions League and as the music for a dance routine in Episode 5, Season 8, of the US television show So You Think You Can Dance, which received a standing ovation from the show's judges. It was also featured in two episodes of MTV's show Awkward (the pilot and Season 3 finale, respectively).[18]
In June 2009, the band performed at the Glastonbury Festival 2009 in Pilton, Somerset, England, where they dedicated the final song of their set to festival headliner Jarvis Cocker, who was to perform on the same stage later that same day.[19] Afterwards, NME, while favorably reviewing Passion Pit's performance, incorrectly reported the band as having dedicated their entire set to Cocker.[20]
On April 13, 2010, the band reissued Manners in a deluxe edition format which contained new artwork and three additional tracks: stripped-down versions of "Sleepyhead" and "Moth's Wings" and a cover of the Cranberries' song "Dreams". The deluxe release coincided with the extension of their North American headlining tour.[21]
The band released another cover in June 2010, this time offering up their take on the Smashing Pumpkins hit song "Tonight, Tonight" as part of a promotion with Levi's called "Pioneer Sessions".[22]
In September 2010, Passion Pit toured with the English band Muse as their opening act for eight shows during their fall tour through parts of the US.[23] Following those supporting shows, the band headlined the Campus Consciousness Tour, produced by Pretty Polly Productions in collaboration with Guster guitarist Adam Gardner's non-profit organization Reverb. The two-week tour featured stops at twelve college campuses and, in addition to the music, focused on promoting eco-friendly lifestyles. Opening acts for the tour included Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears and K. Flay.
In an August 2010 interview with NME, Angelakos stated that work had already begun on the follow-up to Manners and that the band intended to release the album in the spring of 2011.[24] The release date was later announced as July 23, 2012.[25]
Days after they have been presented in the Lollapalooza festival in Brazil in March 2012,[26] they announced the title of the album, Gossamer, and that it would be released on July 24, 2012. Following its release, Gossamer debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 37,000 copies, a career best.[27]
On May 7, 2012, the first track from Gossamer was released, called "Take a Walk".[28]
On June 12, 2012, the second track from Gossamer was released, called "I'll Be Alright". The track leaked early on June 11 and was released as an NME premiere on June 8.[29]
On July 9, 2012, a third track from Gossamer, called "Constant Conversations", was reviewed and featured as "best new track" by Pitchfork. It was released with the review as streamed content.[30]Gossamer was officially released on July 20, 2012.[31]
On July 16, 2012, Angelakos posted on the Passion Pit website that the band has cancelled the remaining July tour dates and suspended the tour in order for Angelakos to seek ongoing treatment for bipolar disorder.[32] A Rolling Stone interview stated that Angelakos was diagnosed at 17, undergoing therapy, hospital care, and taking medication ever since.[33]
On October 13, 2012, they performed on Saturday Night Live. They played "Take a Walk" and "Carried Away."[34]
On September 24, 2013, Passion Pit released the Constant Conversations EP, originally released through Spotify, but was then made available on iTunes. The EP featured an alternative version of Constant Conversations from their 2012 album Gossamer, in addition to a formerly unreleased B-side called "Ruin Your Day". The final track on the EP was a remix of "Carried Away" by Dillon Francis.[36]
Passion Pit released Kindred on April 21, 2015, through Columbia Records.[37][38] On June 24, 2014, Angelakos announced through Twitter that Passion Pit are working on their as yet to be titled third studio album.[39] Angelakos confirmed that the third album would in fact be released in 2015. In anticipation of the release, the band posted several coded images to various social networking platforms. Soon after the release of the Morse code image, the official Passion Pit website, which had been under construction since the end of the 2013 tour, came back up. It is now known as "KindredTheAlbum.com". The website includes a short 13 second clip titled "That flickering light's just a flame" and a picture of Angelakos jumping in the air. On February 16, 2015, the band uploaded the lead single for the new album "Lifted Up (1985)" onto its YouTube channel. The band then followed up by releasing the names of the rest of the tracks and by announcing the album would be available for pre-order the following day (Tuesday February 17, 2015). The third track, titled "Where the Sky Hangs" was also released on the Passion Pit Vevo in the early hours of February 17, 2015. Following the release of their new album, Passion Pit had announced a tour across the United States, part of Canada, and even a stop in Tokyo, Japan. Angelakos continued to tour throughout the year.
During February and March 2017, several new Passion Pit songs were uploaded on YouTube on the account The Wishart Group (from the name of a project started by Michael Angelakos and dedicated to supporting musicians by providing them with legal, educational and healthcare services, with a focus on mental health, a topic on which Angelakos has been especially forthcoming), foreshadowing a fourth album for 2017. All of the videos for those new songs have the same background photo (a woman wearing a white dress, located in the middle of the sea, turning around as though she had sensed she was being secretly observed from behind), as does the front cover of the album. The songs were taken down, but Angelakos announced that he will give a downloadable copy of the album for free to anyone who retweets neuroscientist Michael F. Wells' tweet on the importance of science and research.[40] The profits from the album will be donated to a psychiatric research institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[41]
On July 11, an official release for the album was announced for July 28 on all streaming services.[42]
The band embarked on a North American tour between January and February 2018 to promote Tremendous Sea of Love as well as their EP Chunk of Change's 10th anniversary.[43][44]
On May 14, 2019, Passion Pit teamed up with electronic duo Galantis for a new single "I FOUND U",[45] and the band released 40 tracks through their SoundCloud account in December 2020.[46] However, as of December 22, 2023, most of the tracks were no longer available.
On February 21, 2023, it was announced that Passion Pit was returning to perform live at WeHo Pride by OUTLOUD Music Festival on June 2, along with Grace Jones, Carly Rae Jepsen and others.[47]
On April 10, 2023, Passion Pit rereleased the track "American Blood" as a single. It was previously a bonus track on the iTunes edition of Gossamer.[48]
The band performed at the Just Like Heaven music festival in Pasadena, California, in May 2024.[49]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2020)
In 2012, listeners of Australia's alternative radio station Triple J Hottest 100 voted "Take a Walk" as No. 46 of the hottest 100 tracks of the year.[53]
They were voted Act of the Year in the 2009 Boston Music Awards.[54]
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Manners is the debut studio album by American electropop band Passion Pit. It was released on May 15, 2009, by Frenchkiss Records. "The Reeling" was released as the album's lead single on May 11, 2009, and its music video was premiered on YouTube on April 21, 2009. A second single, "To Kingdom Come", was released in August 2009, followed by "Little Secrets" in December 2009. "Sleepyhead" was originally included on Passion Pit's first EP, Chunk of Change (2008), but was mastered for inclusion on Manners. As of December 2009, the album had sold 82,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Chunk of Change is the debut extended play (EP) by American electropop band Passion Pit, released on September 16, 2008, by Frenchkiss Records and Columbia Records. A video for the single "Sleepyhead" was released in October 2008, directed by The Wilderness. The track was featured in the debut trailer for the 2011 video game LittleBigPlanet 2. "Better Things" was sampled by the alternative hip hop duo Chiddy Bang for their 2009 song "Truth".
Cherry Bing was an American ska/rock band formed in Buffalo, New York, United States. They existed between 1999 and 2005.
"The Reeling" is a song by American electronic band Passion Pit. It was released on May 11, 2009, as the first single from the band's debut studio album, Manners. The song features background vocals from the PS22 Chorus. Generally well received by music critics, the single entered the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in September 2009. In the United Kingdom, the single originally peaked at number 137, but was re-issued in January 2010, where it performed slightly better at number 99. With this improved showing, the record company then re-issued "Sleepyhead" in March 2010. The song was featured on soccer video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2011.
The discography of Passion Pit, an American indietronica band, has released four studio albums, three extended plays and fourteen singles.
"Little Secrets", written by Michael Angelakos, is the third single by American electropop group Passion Pit, taken from their debut album Manners. The song features background vocals from the PS22 Chorus.
"Sleepyhead" is the debut single from American electronic band Passion Pit, featured on their first EP, Chunk of Change, and later on their debut album Manners. The single was released on 8 September 2008. When the song had been re-released on Manners, it had an updated sound.
Michael John Angelakos is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman of the indietronica band Passion Pit.
Ayad Al Adhamy is an American multi-instrumentalist, producer and record label owner based in Brooklyn, New York. He is the former synthesizer, sample, and percussion player of Passion Pit, and shared remix duties with Nate Donmoyer and Ian Hultquist.
Gossamer is the second studio album by American electropop band Passion Pit. It was released on July 20, 2012, by Columbia and Frenchkiss Records. Recorded in 2011 in Los Angeles and New York City, the album was produced by Chris Zane, who also produced the band's debut album Manners (2009), and lead singer Michael Angelakos.
"Take a Walk" is a song by American indietronica band Passion Pit from their second studio album, Gossamer (2012). The song was written and produced by the band's frontman Michael Angelakos, with Chris Zane providing co-production. It was released as the lead single from the album in May 2012.
"I'll Be Alright" is a song by American synthpop band Passion Pit from their second studio album, Gossamer (2012). The song was written and produced by the band's frontman Michael Angelakos. It was released as the second single from the album in June 2012. It received exposure being featured on the critically acclaimed video game FIFA 13 soundtrack, and received "Best New Track" status by Pitchfork Media.
"Constant Conversations" is a song by American indietronica band Passion Pit from their second studio album, Gossamer (2012). The song was written and produced by the band's frontman Michael Angelakos. It was released as the third single from the album in July 2012. Constant Conversations was reviewed and featured as "best new track" by Pitchfork. It was released with the review as streamed content.
"Carried Away" is a song by American indietronica band Passion Pit from their second studio album, Gossamer (2012). The song was written and produced by the band's frontman Michael Angelakos, with Chris Zane providing co-production. It was released as the fourth single from the album in 2013.
Kindred is the third studio album by American electropop band Passion Pit. It was released on April 21, 2015, by Columbia Records.
Tremendous Sea of Love is the fourth studio album by Passion Pit, self-released on YouTube on March 24, 2017, and later officially released on July 28, 2017. Frontman and producer Michael Angelakos expressed a desire to embrace authenticity and rawness with the album in interviews. It was positively received by critics, who noted this intentional rawness and a more mature overall sound compared to the band's previous album, Kindred.
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