Rich Aucoin

If you're one of the thousands of people that have seen Rich Aucoin live over the last few years, you've most likely already become a convert of his baroque pop meets Euro-disco club banging tunes and are already familiar with the seven songs at the heart of We're All Dying to Live. A series of instrumentals links the core tracks, a function of the 500 guests Aucoin invited to perform on the record. Good luck figuring out who's featured where though. Despite including a poster with headshots of everyone involved, Aucoin remains the unifying voice throughout. Understandably, the record is stuffed with ideas, but it never feels crowded. For many, this debut full-length is just a soundtrack to his gigs, but there's emotional resonance at the core of these songs, an element that's often lost during mass sing-alongs. While Aucoin has taken an all-inclusive attitude to his career over the last few years, We're All Dying to Live is a headphone masterpiece best experienced solo.