by Phantom Phunk
Phantom Phunk’s latest release, “Day by Day” kick starts the new decade with the throttle on full. The group flexes their exploratory arrangement style, delivering a fullness delicately balanced by simplicity and extravagance. At the center of it all is a trotting piano line that hovers around both ears, floating with nonchalance as the beat busts through. As the hook drops, the vocals take the wheel and guide the song through a disorienting lyrical stack. The track then leads into a series of rap sections that swerve between animated rapture and personal introspection. The culmination of soundscape and lyrical delivery give the sensation of a high speed car chase that rubs against the rails of Hip-Hop and indie—performing a narrow escape from its genre only to enter some otherworldly musical ether.
Even though it has all the elements of a hip-hop song, Day by Day is in its own lane.
Composition by Hector Alexander Fontanet, lyrics by Wayne J Price, Parry L Kitt and Michael T Stephens. Music by Phantom Phunk. Produced by Hector Alexander, Andrew Hansen and Aaron Ruiz. Recorded and mixed at Harmonic Factory Studio, Tampa, FL. Copyright 2020.
"I like to refer to this song as “Trip Hop” because the single has that sort of trippy feel to it but with plenty of pep in the step and Phantom fuel in the tank. “Day By Day” offers a catchy hook and what I like to call a quick, 1, 2 punch that ends in a KO. I would say Phantom Phunk did deliver a knock out on this new release because the energy and originality factor is off the charts!"
Dancing About Architecture - Dave Franklin
"So whilst you can identify hip-hop lyricism, soulful vibes, funky grooves, pop melodies and any number of cool retro-references in their music, you have never heard them put together quite like this before. And that is the art of it isn’t it? Day By Day is the sound of progress and evolution but it is also the sound of modernity and forward-thinking. Why create sonic chimera’s that no-one want’s to hear when you can reweave all those pleasing patterns of the past into a cool new musical design?"
“Day By Day” shows all the vibrant, eclectic and histrionic creative vision of Phantom Phunk. Through this peculiar, unique and transversal piece, they offer us a musical richness that on the surface level may sometimes seem cacophonic, but hides another layer underneath, one built on a smart management of the elements saturating the sound spectrum. “Day By Day” is undoubtedly something different from everyday pap.
About Phantom Phunk
Phantom Phunk is a songwriting project based out of Tampa studio Harmonic Factory. Using their studio space, the core group of writers manufactures sounds and beats that span beyond genre. With collaborative intent, their songs feature guest vocalists and producers to expand their musical ideas—a process which has culminated a diverse body of work since their debut in 2016. Each release from the project showcases a different lead vocalist and documents a different chapter of development for the group. This musical ambiguity allows them to roam between genre styles ranging from psychedelic rock to cloud rap. The blend of alt-rock and hip-hop gives the group a progressive sound comparable to the Gorillaz & Outkast.