Phantogram

Overview

Having released their debut full-length studio album Eyelid Movies five years ago, New York duo Phantogram has slowly and steadily built a loyal following in dream-pop/street beat circles. In that sense, they're an antidote to an Internet-fuelled culture that has so many artists gambling on viral sensations. Mind you, teaming up with Outkast's Big Boi and The Flaming Lips has certainly helped to keep them well out of the shadows they so often sing about.

"We gravitate towards sad art in general," Sarah Barthel (Phantogram's vocal half) told Indie Shuffle in a recent interview. "Whether it's songs or movies, I guess we gravitate towards emotional art. We always want to write emotional music." New album Voices continues on this melancholic trajectory, but it's too texturally complex to become dull, too melodic to become maudlin.

Before taking their elegant grooves to the Grass, Phantogram will give themselves an Antipodean warm-up with side shows at Sydney's Metro Theatre on July 24 and Melbourne's Prince Bandroom on July 25.