Phantogram's 'Ceremony' reflects band's musical evolution in the wake of loss and exhausting touring schedule
Nearly four years after their last full-length album, electronic alt-rock duo Phantogram have returned with 'Ceremony', an 11-track album, which includes their 2019 singles 'In A Spiral', 'Into Happiness', Pedestal' and 'Mister Impossible'. The duo, which consists of multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter, have launched their album release by dropping the audio for 'Dear God' on their YouTube channel.
The song mixes hip hop and R&B groove with some ethereal vocals from Barthel, beginning with the somber "What would I do in a world without you? / What would I do (Without you) / Without you" and followed by lyrics like "Take me out of this world I'm living in / Tell, tell my friends 'cause I know I wanna see again."
If the lyrics seem to carry an emotional weight to them, that's probably because of what this group has been through in recent years.
The band has found its sound shifting and changing in the wake of the passing of Becky, Barthel's sister and a close friend to Carter as well, who sadly took her own life a few years ago. The loss impacted not only the band's lyrics but their entire sound. Phantogram released two singles, 'Someday' and 'Saturday', and donated all of the proceeds from the sales of those songs to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). The duo was later honored with the 'Public Awareness Award' at the AFSP's 2018 Lifesavers Gala for helping bring attention to suicide prevention through their music.
Barthel has credited Carter as well as pop-singer Miley Cyrus with helping her cope with the loss. She also says music was a huge outlet for her and Carter, who poured all their emotions into their 2016 album, 'Three'. Unfortunately, this album brought with it an intense touring schedule that placed them inside what Barthel describes as a 'bubble', disconnecting them from their own pain and trauma. When the touring stopped, all those feelings came rushing back in.
Speaking about the album and how it came about Barthel has said, “We spent 8 years on the road. All of my stuff had been in storage for years. I wanted to feel comfort and time to appreciate what was around me and a place I could call home."
She continued, "Life keeps going while you’re in your album cycle bubble. When it pops, you have to pick up the pieces. Once you stop, all of the distractions go away. You’re left with a lot of feelings, feelings that got trapped outside of the bubble. Those feelings are what came out on Ceremony."
She continued, "I think this album is not a part of the past...It’s all those experiences that were put on hold because of that crazy, f*cking experience we had four years ago — a reflection not of Becky [but] living without Becky."
Carter believes that getting back to daily life was the impetus for creating this album. "I think we needed to go back to a life of normalcy and see what it was like to be a normal human being for a while...We tour so much, you know what I mean? And so it’s like, just getting back to reality and being with friends and family and the realities of not having Becky in our lives and certain things being different. That’s a lot of what went into the making of the new album."
With 'Ceremony, the duo have taken their painful experiences and turned them into something remarkable, both lyrically and musically. Their latest song, 'Dear God', and by extension 'Ceremony' is an evolution of the band's style to include greater depth, one that truly reflects everything that has shaped them over the last few years.
"Ceremony is what Phantogram is to us," says Barthel. "Everyone has their own ceremony and they don’t have to relate to anyone else’s, but Phantogram is our ceremony: our process, our ritual. Playing shows is our ceremony for everyone. And for us."
Listen to 'Dear God' below. Order the album here.
Phantogram will perform 'Dear God' as well as 'Pedestal' on Jimmy Kimmel Live! tonight.