Phantogram - Memory of A Day

Mystery Color Vinyl Phantogram have built a long-lasting career out of their emotionally powerful mix of overloaded electronic pop, alternative R&B feels, indie rock grandeur, and murky hip-hop underpinned by the duo's nimble musical skills and driven home by Sarah Barthel's vocals. She's proven again and again that she's a force to be reckoned with, able to blow the doors off with power or twist a heart with a subtle expression. Sometimes they drift a little too close to the overly processed side of mainstream pop, but on their fifth album, 2024's Memory of a Day, the pair craft something more idiosyncratic and left-field. They fold in more elements of shoegaze and dream pop this time, drenching the songs in layers of cloudily oscillating sound made by a combo of guitars and keys. They've come close to making songs as otherworldly dreamy as "All a Mystery" or as gloomily overdriven as "Ashes" -- which sounds like the Cocteau Twins fed through a blender -- but they've never sounded