Pat Grossi, the man behind the name of L.A.’s Active Child, is like the spiritual and vocal heir of a-ha’s Morten Harket. Hearing his clean, rich, vocal power backed by electronic-based arrangements is enough to win over any casual passerby (something I was when I first saw Active Child by happenstance a few years back). The former choirboy gained an association by default with any number of performers who clearly love both vocal highs and modern R&B — his latest album, the just released Mercy, is the most he’s moved towards that realm, though musically songs like “Never Far Away” and the title track just as readily show his appreciation for Bryan Ferry’s sighing luxuriousness as much as Ne-Yo’s own breathtaking highs. Whether it’s the tinges of electric harp that often define his songs, or an often-surfacing lyrical mysticism that suggests strangely beautiful rituals as much as cathedral windows, there’s always something just uniquely himself about Grossi, which makes this show worth viewing.
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