Phantogram – Fall in Love
SoundCloud
There’s an awful lot of ingredients poured into the fresh, new sonic cocktail from Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, and throughout its consumption, there are definitely instances where the quantity of its pieces get tangled together. It’s not always pretty — in fact, sometimes their zeal can make for quite the messy experiment. For the most part, and by the most part I mean the vast majority of Voices, what Phantogram throws at this project sticks with a justified sense of victory.
Despite the main bulk of Voices being immaculately fine-tuned, what’s really enticing about the record is that it’s quite unpredictable. The element of surprise is firmly in Phantogram’s favor, and a great deal of joy comes from being caught off guard. Whether it’s the sly speckling of glitchy synth effects, the opening bars of “Howling at the Moon”, which sound ever so reminiscent of an Ennio Morricone instrumental, the fact that “Bill Murray” is actually a really tender, slow burning dreamscape, or the use of samples cut and hammered fresh from the circuitry of an MPC, there’s a great deal of variation going on within the confines of this album. Plus, as an added bonus, there’s a great deal of consistency to boot. Although not fully mastered, Phantogram has a strong grasp on this particular duality, which works wonders for their sophomore album and any musical outings yet to come.
Although the stylistic window dressing, the genre mashing, the sweet hooks and the innovative aspirations are all great (and believe me — they are truly great!), the real linchpin to Voices is the rhythmic work which all of the above hangs upon. Blending both organic and digital drums results in a really robust and solid sound throughout the album. Whether it’s through the use of progressive beats, catchy fills or little percussive additions, the rhythmic core of the album really drives it forward and fills out its presence significantly.
This was my first exposure to Phantogram, so I had no idea what to expect coming into Voices. Upon exiting the other end of this particular tunnel, I find that I now have another record on heavy rotation and a new group placed on my list of bands to stay up-to-date with.
