Soundtracks to a Dying World: Phantogram

Trip hop is a tricky genre to get your head around if you’re a filthy casual listener. In more ways than one, it feels like it was beamed back to us from the future–it draws influence from what seems like every living category of music, culminating in something unlike every other genre to date. Officially, trip hop is primarily defined by its use of sampling, melancholic lyrics, and is typically experimental, which has led to a wide variety of tones, tied together by an overarching sense of ethereality. Ultimately, it’s difficult to pin down in words (for me at least) how to describe what makes trip hop unique–it’s just another genre you know when you hear it. On one end of the spectrum, you’ll find artists like Björk, Glass Animals, and Gorillaz, who use psychedelic and jazzy samples to create a sort of dreamy retro-pop sound.

But that’s not what you’re here for. There’s another, dirtier corner of the nightclub that trip hop likes to reside in, one that for some reason smells like ionized metal and burning motherboards. Upon emerging in the ’90s, a school of thought developed alongside the more psychedelic within trip hop, which favored synths over jazz samples, and occasionally experimented with industrial touches. This lends them a techno-dystopian bite combined with detached vocals, a trait that makes the genre rife for exploration among the cyberpunk community (and trust me, that’s what we intend to do).

Arriving on the scene in 2010 with their debut album, Eyelid Movies, Phantogram is one of the latest iterations of modern trip hop, combining its traits with elements of dream pop, shoegaze, and stripped-down synths. Featuring Sarah Barthel (vocals, keyboards) and Josh Carter (vocals, guitar), this New York-based duo gained notoriety with the release of “Fall in Love” in 2014, though you may know them better from “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore”, which was played on alt and pop stations for what seemed to be an interminable period on repeat. You might be asking, “Why is this poser covering pop music on a website dedicated to a semi-obscure genre of science fiction and music?” First of all, that hurts. Second of all, I’d say that it’s partially due to and partially in spite of Phantogram’s popularity that they fit snugly into a world that becomes more totalitarian and disconnected on a daily basis.

Nothing But Trouble

Over time, Barthel and Carter’s songwriting structure has shifted from their trip hop roots (which are predominant in Eyelid Movies and their Nightlife EP) to incorporating shoegazey touches in their second album, Voices. Their latest release, Three, maintains trip hop elements and heavy synths, and despite its dark tones, its energy and certain elements are more befitting of modern pop music. However, there is a certain consistency between Phantogram’s compositions in their lyrics, which incorporate themes surrounding depression, existential hedonism, and disillusionment. Drug abuse is a common topic in Phantogram’s music–and that by itself isn’t inherently cyberpunk, of course, even with an electronic backdrop. However, Barthel’s airy, unconcerned vocals lend themselves greatly to a world desensitized to tragedy. Consider the first track off Eyelid Movies, “Mouthful of Diamonds”. Beginning with a digital riff that’s discordant with the melody, the song displays a cynical outlook and alludes to drug abuse as a form of mind control, while maintaining relatable subject material by putting it in the context of a dying relationship.

“As Far as I Can See”, from the same album, is an even better example of their dystopian attitude. While its melody is cool and calming, using diced, rhythmic samples (if you listen closely, you can hear “Buy something!” sung in the background), it is fully divorced from the lyrics, which depict crippling loneliness. Maybe it’s just me, but it sounds like something you might hear in a futuristic jazz bar in the Deus Ex universe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN_RpzxIqfw&list=OLAK5uy_kOSo7L0JxBMcAQrgYg4UsyUfuVQZ3nJR0&index=6

Self-exile and isolation is a recurring theme in Phantogram’s work, often set to tunes that seem to contradict the lyrics’ intent. This isn’t a new phenomenon, of course; while moody perspectives with false grins painted over them have been around for a while, this approach to songwriting has been popularized by the arrival of the post-punk movement. Phantogram, however, compounds this sense of dissociation with their intuitive use of instruments that do not require a direct connection with to master. This is used to their fullest advantage, exploring the depths of loss and isolation in the so-called “connected” age with songs like “Turning Into Stone”, “Howling at the Moon”, “Celebrating Nothing”, and “Fall in Love”.

Additionally, Carter and Barthel’s earlier albums dip into death-contemplative and near-antisocial territory with songs like “Running from the Cops”, “Don’t Move“, “Futuristic Casket“, “A Dark Tunnel“, and “Bloody Palms“. “Running from the Cops” is an exceptional standout–Carter’s shuddering vocals suggest paranoia, layered under words pertaining to spiraling mental health in the face of despair.

Naturally, this paints a clear picture of the band’s most recently featured thematic avenue: pursuing empty pleasures despite the existential implications. While this has been a cultural byproduct of capitalism for decades, Phantogram skewers this mentality by recognizing escapism for what it is. This is on fullest display in songs like “Black Out Days” and, of course, “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore”, in which Barthel dehumanizes relationships by comparing their highs to the effects of recreational drugs. While the latter single’s pop elements are unmistakable (and occasionally grating to the ears), the significance of its popularity should not be ignored. The simple fact that a synths-based song riddled with self-destructive behavior has resonated with a large enough section of the populace to emerge from the underground could mark the growing acceptance of nihilism as a cultural norm, making the future of pop music look darker than ever.

Cruel World

Though Phantogram’s discography doesn’t pack a whole lot of punk, they blend modernism and 20 minutes into the future easily with their style, which is enough to fall on my radar. Phantogram is music for the dystopian everyman: the Julias and Guy Montags of modern society, suppressed and separated from the rest of society by depression and unhinged escapism. If anything, Phantogram is the kind of music you listen to while surveying a crowded street in a darkened metropolis from your high-rise balcony between drags on a cigarette.

If you want more music that blurs the lines between reality and science fiction, check out the first article in the series, as well as our articles on Massive Attack, Theatre of Tragedy, and David Bowie.