Greenwich, NY · electro-rock · trip-hop

Phantogram

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Upstate New York duo pairing Sarah Barthel's cool delivery with beats that hit considerably harder live — 'When I'm Small' still the entry point.

Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter have been friends since preschool in Greenwich, in upstate New York. Barthel was studying visual art at Champlain College when she came home in 2007 and reconnected with Carter, who had just returned from a stint in New York City playing in Grand Habit with his older brother; the two began finishing songs Carter had already been writing.

They first performed as Charlie Everywhere around Saratoga Springs, releasing two EPs on the local Sub-Bombin label, before signing to the UK label Barely Breaking Even in January 2009 and renaming themselves Phantogram, after an optical illusion in which flat images appear three-dimensional.

Their debut album, Eyelid Movies, appeared in 2009 through BBE and Indica in Canada, with Barsuk Records issuing it in the US the following February. It set out the template: sampled and programmed beats with a trip-hop weight to them, layers of guitar and keyboard haze, and vocals split between the two members. Its singles included 'Mouthful of Diamonds,' 'As Far as I Can See,' and 'When I'm Small,' which remains their best-known song.

The band added drummer Tim Oakley for touring in 2010, then released the Nightlife EP the following year. In 2012 they collaborated with Big Boi of OutKast on three songs for his album Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, and later joined him fully as the side project Big Grams.

Later records pushed further toward pop production while keeping the low end intact. Their third album, Three, reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200, and its singles 'Fall in Love' and 'You Don't Get Me High Anymore' both reached the top 10 of the US Alternative chart.

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electro-rocktrip-hop