Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter and instrumentalist, Patrick Grossi, widely known as ACTIVE CHILD, announces his new self-titled album, set for release on May 15th on Sony Music Masterworks. Co-produced with Alex Goose (Kali Uchis, Childish Gambino, Vince Staples), the album is ACTIVE CHILD’s most personal and introspective work yet, marked by a candid exploration of adulthood and fatherhood. A reflective portrait of his own journey, Grossi navigates the space between creative devotion and familial responsibility, exploring how love and quiet self-protection shape a life no longer driven by youthful idealism.
Accompanying today’s announcement is the new single and visualizer “Needed You,” which gives fans a thoughtful glimpse of love among chaos.
“Pursuing art feels less romantic and more chaotic as I age,” ACTIVE CHILD notes. “It demands a selfish, often solitary lifestyle that can feel at odds with being a father. It's produced a schism within me. A divide that requires me to bend the truth to make myself and others feel safe. You speak half-truths to insulate yourself from life’s unknowns. You become a protector.”
“Needed You” follows the release of the first two singles, “Coming Up” and “I Know What to Say Now” from ACTIVE CHILD’s forthcoming LP. Supported by the acoustic soul of his grandfather’s D’Angelico guitar, Grossi’s sonorous vocals beam over a compound time signature.
“Desire is the source I always return to for inspiration, continues ACTIVE CHILD. “Dissecting its manic infatuation, insecurity, and self-sacrifice gives me both energy and calmness, and is at the core of my sound. The lyric ‘How can I get through to you, how can I sing without you?’ feels especially poignant to me because it reflects both my need for recognition and my reliance on longing to conjure the music.”
On his forthcoming self-titled album, ACTIVE CHILD invites listeners into his most intimate chapter yet. Artistic myth gives way to the emotional weight of adulthood, tracing the fault lines between devotion and responsibility, solitude and love, and revealing how fatherhood has reshaped his life and his creative process. Tender, restrained, and deeply human, the album doesn’t seek resolution but truth, capturing the beauty and tension of learning how to live and make honest art amid contradiction.