[Album Stream] Phantogram: "Voices"
It's been a long wait for Phantogram's latest studio album since 2011's Nightlife EP and apparently the UK synth-pop duo got sick of it too, releasing a stream of the album today on Soundcloud, which you can find here below. Voices isn't a huge departure for Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter, as it stays true to the aesthetics that thrust the duo into the spotlight when the sound was fresh and new. Three years later, they seemed to have settled into a niche, not an entirely bad thing (Justin Bieber has pretty profitable 'niche') but I have a hard time believing this is all there is. There's plenty of feedback and airy vocals, but it doesn't really progress the way I had expected it to. Perhaps it's the fact that the album has been teased since last September, when "Black Out Days" first hit the Internet and that's where the feeling of repetition is coming from. I'm sure this project will make a huge wave across the greater music landscape, I was just hoping for something a little bit more. Stream and full tour dates through 2014 below.
April Tour Dates:
02.20.14 Oakland, CA Fox Theatre – SOLD OUT
02.21.14 Sacramento, CA Ace of Spades
02.22.14 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium – SOLD OUT
02.23.14 Ventura, CA Ventura Theatre
After featured performances at the Maverick Music Festival in San Antonio Texas on March 21st and the Buku Music & Art Project in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 22nd Phantogram will embark on a full U.S. tour:
04.04 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE
04.05 Columbus, OH LC Pavilion
04.06 Cincinnati, OH 20th Century Theatre
04.08 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
04.10 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
04.12 Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
04.13 Minneapolis, MI First Avenue
04.15 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
04.16 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
04.18 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
04.19 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theater
04.21 Tulsa, OK
04.23 Dallas, TX
04.25 Houston, TX
04.27 Atlanta, GA
05.23-25 George, WA
06.20-22 Dover, DE
Phantogram: "Nothing But Trouble"
And the anticipation continues. The lead-up to Phantogram's Voices, their first full-length studio release since 2009's Eyelid Movies, has been eventful to say the least. The New York duo of Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel released a self-titled EP towards the end of last year, which was the first anyone had heard from the pair since 2011's Nightlife EP and was preceded by the singles "Black Out Days" and "Celebrating Nothing". Today, in further support of their scheduled February 18 drop date for Voices, Barthel and Carter released their latest track, "Nothing But Trouble" today, which follows the lead single, "Fall In Love". Both tracks are available for download upon pre-ordering Voices, which is available on iTunes, here. If nothing else, Phantogram keeps listeners on their toes, both with their music and their frenetic release schedules, and this latest installment is no different. Listen to "Nothing But Trouble" streaming below.