For fans of: Torres, Sharon Van Etten, Laura Veirs, Speck Mountain, The National
We wrote about “Metric”, the first track of off Phosphene’s Self-Titled debut which came out Tuesday a couple of weeks ago. We were pretty excited about the album from hearing “Metric” and “Thief”. We really dug the voice of Rachel Frankel, and the rest of the band, consisting of drummer Matt Hemmerich and bassist Kevin Kaw along with cellist Sarah Hobin. Phosphene was recorded at Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco, and was produced by Kelley Coyne, who as we mentioned previously worked with DOE EYE in the past.
When I wrote about “Metric” I wrote about how it’s a great indie rock track with female vocals. There are some great indie rockers on here, “Metric” is one of them, as is “Lovers”. They’re not exactly upbeat, lyrically they remind me a bit of Torres or Sharon Van Etten but the guitar work and vocals do remind me a bit of Hospitality. The other single I posted from the record was “Thief” which is one of the slower tracks on Phosphene, it’s gorgeous and chilling. That pace continues with “Crime” which sounds absolutely epic. “Go To Sleep” almost goes into punk rock territories, but Frankel’s voice keeps the track rooted a bit more towards shoegaze or psychedelic rock (similar to Speck Mountain). “Dark Light” slows the record down once more, and is another gorgeous epic like “Crime”. “Wire” and “Still” are two more great tracks that lead into the epic build of the finale, “Ranier”.
In the liner notes for Phosphene, Phosphene thank The National and Sharon Van Etten. Those artists definitely had an influence on Phosphene. Hemmerich’s drumming is energetic in the same way Bryan Devendorf’s can be, and Frankel’s voice is reverb laden, but gives off feeling much like Van Etten does with lyrics like “You are heavy on my mind” in “Wire” . The production sounds just right. It’s not over produced in any way, nor does the record feel like it’s lacking either, it’s a perfect balance. It’s really a fantastic album, wonderfully produced and an unexpected standout in a year full of great records.
You can buy the record on their Bandcamp here, and stream it, with lyrics on SoundCloud.
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“Wire”
https://soundcloud.com/phosphene_sf/wire
“Go To Sleep”
https://soundcloud.com/phosphene_sf/go-to-sleep
“Still”
https://soundcloud.com/phosphene_sf/still-1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nk0FkWkotE
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