Phantogram’s latest album offers dark lyrics and phenomenal music. Photo courtesy of Facebook.

By Maggie Turkovich
Contributing Reporter

On October 7th, 2016, Phantogram released their third studio album entitled “Three.” The New York duo continues to deliver songs with stellar music production. Every song is layered with catchy melodies and haunting base lines. The quality of the music production has gained Phantogram a lot of recognition, with a multitude of artists vying for their attention in order to work with them.

This is perhaps their darkest album lyrically. Many of the songs were influenced by the death of singer Sarah Barthel’s sister. Her questions about life and death, paired with tales of fear and isolation leave the listener to ponder existence and what it means to be alive. Barthel’s words are heartbreaking but beautiful, creating ballads that are more like poetry. Every track elicits a different emotion from the listener and explores many aspects of life.

“Three” is not all dark and heavy, though. It features multiple upbeat songs that are bound to be stuck in the listener’s head for days. Since the band focuses so heavily on keyboards and beats, the dance tracks on the LP are multidimensional and unique, unlike the vast majority of today’s dance music.

Phantogram continues to reinvent their sound with not just every album, but every song. Their emphasis on quality is refreshing and they are not afraid to take risks. It will be interesting to see how long they can continue to create vibrant and unique music, but so far, the outlook seems quite bright.