Saturday 5 January 2013

Phantom - Kisses


These days, in order to make cool pop music you have to be either a) part of a duo or b) Scandinavian.

Phantom tick both boxes.  
The Finnish duo combine the jazz vocals of singer Hanna Toivonen with the spectral production of Tommi Koskinen. Kisses is their second single after last year's EP 'Scars'. Icy electronics marry twitchy beats and sampling with swathes of synth pads that slowly crescendo until the drums fully explode around the 2'30 mark. Toivonen's vocal tenderly melts over the top; a hushed utterance that oozes from her vocal chords as effortlessly as breath. It adds a cooing romanticism to the track that, ironically enough, peaks in the final quietly acoustic moments.

Extra kudos are awarded for sampling Satie's Gymnopédie No 1 in such beautiful fashion.

And kudos for the lyric "kiss this old world toodaloo". What a word.

4/5

Listen: You can download Kisses from the duo's Soundcloud page, plus check out their previous EP 'Scars' on their website.

Watch: Phantom are gigging in Europe later this month.