Some songs hit like whispers, others like tidal waves. Rapt’s “Until the Light Takes Us” somehow manages both, unfolding over seven minutes of poetic introspection, swelling strings, and delicate piano. It’s a death lullaby that doesn’t just contemplate mortality—it stares it down with the quiet defiance of someone who has seen too much and still chooses to care.
At its heart, this track is steeped in stories. A neighbor who passed away from throat cancer appears in a dream, offering ironic wisdom about never smoking. World War I casualties loom as specters of collective grief. And then there’s Rapt himself, reckoning with the inevitability of his own end. The lyrics, sung in Ware’s haunting timbre, rest gently on the listener, each word carrying the weight of memory and unanswerable questions. The music mirrors this journey, starting with sparse, dulcet keys before swelling into a cinematic crescendo, as if inviting us to find beauty in the enormity of life’s fragility.
While Ware has called this album a meditation on “ends”, the track feels more like a beginning—a chance to sit with the discomfort of death and, somehow, feel comforted. The restraint in its arrangement reflects the emotional balance Ware has mastered: raw yet composed, intimate yet expansive. Think Nick Drake with a mythological edge or Jeremy Soule’s ambient mastery wrapped in bardic folk storytelling.
About Rapt:
Rapt (the brainchild of Jacob Ware) is far from a one-note project. This London artist is a shape-shifter, weaving through ambient instrumentals, reverb-laden singer-songwriter ballads, and techno-touched explorations. His music resists easy categorization, but his ability to channel personal experience into universal truths is what anchors it all. This latest track, like much of his work, is gentle yet profound—a reminder of the humanity in our smallest, most fragile moments.
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