Performing under the moniker Class Actress, Elizabeth Harper’s latest album, Rapprocher, sounds a bit like what would happen if Dave Gahan, Oscar Wilde, and Madonna curled up together in the corner of a dark bar for some heartbreak-fueled debauchery. The follow-up to her 2010 EP, The Journal of Ardency, Rapprocher is an 11-song odyssey about the tumultuousness of the heart. It’s a lovelorn tale that’s dark and weary, with just enough synth to make it danceable. Lyrical sadness is skillfully applied to the disco beats and feel-good melodies scattered throughout the album. On “Bienvenue,” she channels Raymond Carver, repeating, “This is the way we talk when we talk about love,” making for a surprisingly poppy anthem. Although each song quickens the pulse, tracks like “Prove Me Wrong” fall on the downbeat side of dark electro, ideal for sinking into said shadowy bar corners.
