Phantogram - Memory of a Day

Phantogram head back to where it all began on Memory of a Day, a 2024 album of glitchy, glowing electro-rock pressed here on 180-gram black vinyl.

Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel grew up in rural upstate New York, and the lockdown years sent them back there in spirit, reminding them of the wide-open quiet and strange isolation of their teenage years. Their fifth studio album, released through Neon Gold, was produced by Carter with John Hill, Jennifer Decilveo and Sam de Jong, and it balances the duo's love of hip-hop beats and fuzzed-out guitars with some of their most emotionally direct writing.

"All a Mystery" set the tone as the first single, a cool, airy vocal floating over a shuddering, hip-hop-inflected beat, while "Happy Again" pairs bittersweet lyrics with a chorus that lifts like sunlight breaking through. "Come Alive" crackles with nervy, dancefloor energy, and "It Wasn't Meant to Be" turns heartbreak into something sleek and cinematic.

The pair have always been masters of contrast, setting sweet melodies against dark, distorted production, and here that push and pull feels as natural as breathing.

Pressed on heavyweight black vinyl, it is every bit as striking on the turntable as it was on release.