Passage by Exitmusic

With Passage, Exitmusic has turned in one of the more ambition, evocative, and engaging efforts of 2012.

What stops it from being a turgid and dull affair are the songs themselves, which are dark throughout yet almost always enthralling.

Passage simply pulls several familiar objects into one detailed picture, a predictably good look from a pair whose script seems every bit as written as much as lived.  

Passage is endearing, with unforgettable peaks; it looks beautiful at first glance, and has no shortage of beautiful moments, but don’t delve too deeply lest the mirage of a grandiose masterpiece dissolve.

Ffor all its bleak, dark fissures, bright and tender lights serenely burst out with hope.

Too much of Passage opens up doors—big, gaping ones—that don’t ever lead anywhere.