Phantogram: Ceremony

April 8, 2020
Phantogram: Ceremony

Since they first debuted a decade ago, New York duo Phantogram have stormed through a handful of genres, deftly swirling together psychedelic rock, hip-hop, electronic dance music and folk, but there’s been one constant: the vibe. You don’t throw on a Phantogram song on a sunny afternoon; you play one when it’s raining, when you’re high, when you’re about to do something sinister. On their fourth full-length, Ceremony, Phantogram thankfully don’t mess with the vibe—this’ll be the soundtrack to many long nights—but their sound is looser, more energetic and more downright trippy than ever before. Nowhere is that more apparent than Ceremony’s album-closing title track, where singer Sarah Barthel is hovering just above a trip-hop beat, “falling in the swimming pool, naked in the neon moon,” as if singing to her shadow, before Phantogram spend a full minute piling on layers of creeping, wobbly synthesizers until your Reviews speakers hit capacity and the song bursts like a firework. It’s deliriously fun. There’s a reason Phantogram have long been cherished by rappers—and their beatmaking prowess doesn’t slack here—but Ceremony leans far heavier on psychedelic sounds through a dance club filter. Tracks like “Love Me Now,” “Mister Impossible” and “Pedestal” are all distorted vocals, billowing percussion and buzzing synths. “Into Happiness” is the closest Phantogram comes to cracking a smile, but as Barthel sings “Wish you could be here,” a storm of low-end rumbles beneath her—nothing is as it seems. Ceremony isn’t a complete reinvention for Phantogram, but it’s got enough new tricks up its sleeves to keep you guessing and grinning.

Artist: Justin Jacobs