Phantogram: When I’m Small
Taken from this year’s ‘Eyelid Movies‘, set for a February re-release, ‘When I’m Small‘, were it to be stripped from the glossy synthetics, could have been written by a couple of 14-year-olds – fresh-faced but not that talented. It begins with a tranquil, teasing hip-hop beat before unleashing an amateur-ish, top E string guitar riff. It’s as relatively simple as Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy‘, the kind of song you kick yourself for not writing.
But Phantogram release their collection of ideas in the chorus; bare of beats, exposed and supported by a vulnerable, delay-ridden guitar line, Sarah Barthel floating above, her voice fragmented into tiny particles amongst the spacious surroundings. It closes on a crescendo where nothing is filtered out – the complete polar opposite of how it starts. This is futuristic pop music made by an intelligent pair from New York City.
mp3// When I’m Small
Today the band announced that they were signed to Barsuk Records.
MFM @ HYPEM
November 1st, 2009 at 3:28 pm
[...] wasn’t long ago that we last wrote about Phantogram. That write-up came mere minutes after hearing the gloriously catchy ‘When [...]