Review Summary: In the gloaming
For the last three years or so, I’ve been a (lonely) voice waxing to all who will listen about Phantom Handshakes. To me, they are one of
the dream pop artists to beat in the current scene, with an admirable and growing discography -
Sirens At Golden Hour marks their third LP, to go along with an EP, and all are quite strong efforts.
A little introduction may be in order, as (despite my best efforts), this act remains largely unknown. Phantom Handshakes are a collaboration between instrumentalist Matt Sklar and vocalist Federica Tassano. Their approach is decidedly lo-fi, resulting in a series of fuzzed-out and melancholic songs - you can trace the dream pop lineage all the way back to Cocteau Twins with ease, but the influence of a wider range of C86, twee, and indie bands is evident. In particular, Sklar has cited The Radio Dept. (ever under-appreciated) as an inspiration. The results speak for themselves, but I’ve always struggled to articulate exactly what makes the duo’s music click with me so completely.
Take
No More Summer Songs, for example. That 2021 debut full-length simply flies by, a collection of wispy and jangly pop songs behind a hazy screen, not particularly distinct from one track to another. That last statement seems like it should be a clear problem, but perhaps it’s actually their secret weapon, helping to carve out an escapist dream world, with every tune bound together by a certain shared logic, even as the beauty of each feels utterly transitory - blink and it’s gone.
Phantom Handshakes’ latest effort doesn’t shake up their existing blueprint, really - rather, it simply takes their standard musical attributes and cranks them up to eleven. And once the knob snaps off that old stereo,
Sirens At Golden Hour is the Phantom Handshakes-iest Phantom Handshakes release - their default simple and ethereal pop songcraft, drowned in lo-fi production, is all there, but the results are more deliberate, more reflective, more downright murky, than ever. There are gorgeous melodies to be found, and Tassano’s elegant vocals are captivating, but there’s also an omnipresent duality of brightness and shade, lurking menace contrasting with sensuous beauty, and these contending forces eventually merge into a kind of liminal state.
The album’s promotional materials classify it not only by the expected (and ubiquitous) label of “dream pop”, but also as “darkwave”, a term which, in connection with Phantom Handshakes, caused some raised eyebrows on my part upon first glance. But, as the previous paragraph suggests, the duo’s doubling-down on their core tendencies here manages to evolve the music into something a little grimier and gloomier than ever before. Those same promotional materials describe the record’s intended theme as dwelling on “that moment when twilight transitions to darkness” and as “a voyage that encompasses amazement and sometimes despair, moving from a state of fascination to one of distress”. And, indeed, those evocations are spot on - you won’t find a more perfect setting for spinning this release than listening to it via headphones while wandering the city as the last light of day fades away. There are wonderful tunes to be found - the lethargic beauty of “Words As Bugs”, the melodic earworm of “Dusk Enchanted”, the faintly pastoral longing of “All Around” - but it’s the overwhelming sense of atmosphere which marks the LP’s primary triumph. Indeed, it’s probably best to think of
Sirens At Golden Hour less as a conventional album, and more as a collage of brief moments - blinking in and out, from one to another, a sequence of resonant emotions linked to the dying of the light and the advent of darkness.
This feels like a culmination of the sound Phantom Handshakes have been playing with since their formation - with any luck,
Sirens At Golden Hour might not end up being their finest record, but if we’re blessed with that timeline, I’d bet that whatever future release emerges as their best will take their music a rather different direction. As it stands, this is the duo’s crowning achievement, its slightly darker sense of mystique only complimenting the airy pop sensibility they’ve always worn so well. It’s anything but flashy, instead opting for total immersion in those moody late evening vibes. Give it a try, the shadows are growing long out there.
