Phantogram - Three

Phantogram
Three
2016
Spotify

The first three (no pun intended) off the new Phantogram record Three seemed different. The band has done a lot of experimentation since their last record, creating new bands with Outkasts Big Boi and making more than one venture into the hip hop world. Some of the tracks like "You Don't Get Me High Anymore" even feel very hip hop which is not necessarily a bad thing. However that same restless spirit also makes the record seem disjointed and more of a stumble through the night than a direct path. Sarah Bathel remains the driving force of the duo even taking more of a center stage on this record than ever before. She has embraced her star power effectively in the past but on this album she seems to be becoming more and more growing into something really special, part of the reason she is such a hot commodity as a singer of hooks. John Carter's beats still remain glitchy, dark and more than a bit wild, but the emotion here is so up and down it is hard to get a hold off. Earlier this year during the recording of Three Sarah's older sister took her own life and it rocked the band to their core. Three became something very different than it may have been with this cloud hanging over it. It would be hard for anyone to get all that loss and pain into what was supposed to be a pop record.

"Run Run Blood" may be the song that most perfectly sums up the record as a whole. There are huge backbeats, interludes and an epic feel that never fully comes together. There is so much effort put in to making the song big that you never really feel it gets anywhere. It just feels so scattershot like someone tired of working on something and ready to just move on. For anyone making a record to go through something traumatic and not have it effect that product would be absolutely insane. Their move to the middle is likely to garner them less fans then sticking with their indie glitchy roots, but using this album as a judge of the future of Phantogram's career doesn't even really make sense. This is a bump in the road not crashing in a ditch. Even on Three there is still plenty to like about Phantogram and there is no signs of that ever stopping. Give Three a shotbut be prepared not to be blown away.

6.3 out of 10