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66. Voices - Phantogram (2014)

Alternative

Since the very beginnings of their career in 2009, Phantogram has existed in a space largely all their own. Though certainly not the first or only female-vocalist, male-producer duo in alternative music, the decade since their conception has largely passed beneath the shadow they’ve cast. They manage to check just about every box necessary for resounding success within the current climate of alternative music. Josh Carter’s unique blended style of production has attracted attention from heavyweights across just about all genres, even leading to a project with Big Boi fittingly dubbed Big Grams (2015).

In 2019, Phantogram’s influence is obvious and undeniable and they owe much of their present success to Voices. Diverging significantly from previous work, Voices features a more comprehensively developed darkness, thanks in no small part to Sarah Barthel’s dynamic vocal performance which takes center stage, rather than playing second fiddle to Carter’s production as was the case on much of Eyelid Movies (2010). Here, the songs are distinctly hers, and they become, in many cases, diary entries that assume an honest transparency and hold nothing back. In retrospect, it’s not quite as hard-hitting as 2016’s Three which was still was still two years away, but Voices showcases plenty of bloodletting of its own, while still having room for radio-friendly hits like “Black Out Days” and “Fall in Love”. The album took Phantogram to another level and cemented them at the vanguard of alternative electro-pop, a position they still comfortably inhabit today.

*image; cover art for the album Voices by the artist Phantogram