Active Child is the project of Pat Grossi, resident of Los Angeles, native of New Jersey. Inspired by his days as a choir boy and epic nights as a member of the band Weight Room, Grossi combines his soaring vocals and crunching analogue synths with the honey drip drop of echoing harps.

The influence of chorale singing, along with the sensibility of non-secular music, is as apparent in Active Child’s work as the influence of synth pop bands like New Order, Joy Division and Tears for Fears. His debut collection of songs features the skilled use of various 80s-tinged synths to create ethereal, soaring soundscapes, punctuated by crisp electronic drum samples and handclaps. All of this lays the groundwork for Grossi’s exquisite vocals, which, with their unearthly sound and evocative lyrics, take on an enchanting, hymnal quality that would not be out of place amongst the richly colored sunlight of a church’s stained-glass interior.

Active Child’s songs are an intriguing study in contrast. The organic elements of Grossi’s angelic vocals and the occasional delicate strumming of a harp cast light on the eerie darkness created by the haunting synths and cavernous reverberating of percussion.

Grossi cites the musical environment in his childhood home as an early inspiration for his own desire to make music. After participating in a school choir as a child, he joined the Philadelphia Boys Choir at age 10.