[rating=8.00]
In the two years since Phantogram’s spectacular sophomore LP Voices, the duo spent a lot of time collaborating with everyone from Miley Cyrus to Big Boi, the latter for an entire album under the moniker Big Grams. Though that may not have been a factor, there’s no denying that their new album Three is Phantogram’s most mainstream pop album to date.
The skittering trip hop beats and fuzzy bass synth for which Phantogram is known are a large part of Three, but there is also more guitar, cleaner snyths, and more streamlined melodies. Though the album is just as inventive as previous releases, it is less off-kilter, with more streamlined beats that are easily digested on the dance floor.
Album opener “Funeral Pyre” is the closest thing to a throwback track on the album, with its pulsing, crunchy synths, rumbling bassline, and Sarah Barthel’s soft, haunting vocals. Advance single and bona fide earwig “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” showcases Phantogram at their catchiest. The song is nonstop hooks, from its propulsive drum beat to Josh Carter’s growling guitar riff to the dramatic shifts in time signature. Over that infectious amalgamation, Barthel spits out a stream-of-consciousness comparing love to drug tolerance. “Walk with me to the end. Stare with me into the abyss,” she pleads. “Do you feel like letting go? I wonder how far down it is.”
Barthel and Carter trade jabs back and forth on the bouncing “You’re Mine,” a rollicking love song thick with codependency. After both parties declare their need for undivided attention, Cater sings, “I spotted you the second I walked in the building.” Barthel counters with her own flattery, “I want to hear the things you say when no one’s listening.” Then she adds, “But that don’t matter anyway, ‘case you’re mine.”
Midway through Three, the album slows down for a few ballads. “Barking Dog” finds Carter singing of the pain and isolation that comes with a guilty conscience. “I’m sorry for what I’ve done,” he sings over discordant music. “Hurt people hurt people, too.”
Three is considerably darker than Eylid Movies, both musically and lyrically. The apocalyptic “Run Run Blood” is the album’s bleakest track, with Barthel and Carter’s detached voices railing against the current state of the world. A menacing industrial cacophony envelops lyrics of corruption and abuse. The response to these problems: “Swallow everything you don’t believe; drink away all of your memories.”
Though Three never quite reaches the high bar set by Voices and many fans will reject the stylistic changes, it is nonetheless a great pop album infused with Barthel and Carter’s distinct style.
