Phantom

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"The aural equivalent of a black cat sneaking across silk sheets..." - Q Magazine

Montreal-born, Phantom chanteuse, guitarist and songwriter Elsie Martins was known in her Canadian homeland as a much-loved MusiquePlus music television presenter/journalist. Elsie left a burgeoning television career to relocate to London, UK, where she met Jonny Martin and formed Phantom.

Phantom’s debut single, Great Pretender, was released in September 2009. It was produced by James Aparicio, who's worked alongside bands such as XX Teens, These New Puritans and Phantom favourites Nick Cave and Mogwai

With their debut album - Smoke & Mirrors - Phantom created a new percussive landscape for their music. They used recordings of places, objects and sounds found organically around them, both familiar and alien: an antique typewriter thump, the flap of a letter dropping through a letter box, heels clicking on concrete, the Mars Space Rover rumbling across the surface of the red planet. Each sound was carefully treated and morphed into a rhythm to support compositions.



Phantom's strength is being able to create an atmosphere; therefore it’s apt that the album - provided in two 22-minute parts with no track marks - is seamless when played in sequence. The songs build and bleed into one another just as they do during Phantom’s captivating live set. A remix of “We Float” by Death In Plains is also featured on the album. Death In Plains is a visual/musical adventure, the brainchild of Enrico Boccioletti, who creates a sound that joins Fuck Buttons to Jesus and Mary Chain via MGMT.

Smoke & Mirrors mysteriously transported you into Phantom’s world of alluring, sensual sounds, captivating your imagination and enticing you into their silky neo-noir musical landscapes.