Phantom Electric – “Feels” (audio) (premiere)

On “Feels”, Phantom Electric rides the line between several sonic influences that you might not think would go together. By some wild design, they place dream pop, indie rock, electronic, country, and soul vibes into a blender. Most astounding of all is that the resulting mix is something that comes across as a natural culmination of sounds.

Psychedelic, ebullient guitars float past ethereal harmonic coos and gospel-tinged backing vocals. The track lingers for nearly seven minutes, with a focus on a nostalgic love that may or may not presently exist. Things pick up in that final minute with guitars blazing and vocals soaring. All the while, rolling percussion keeps the same gentle beat that persists from the track’s opening seconds, keeping the track from bursting at the seams in its final moments.

Altogether, the song recalls Jim James and My Morning Jacket. The band covers their own sound, of course, but when looking for comparisons, the two acts can fill similarly dreamy, psychedelic spaces in rock ‘n’ roll.

“I wrote ‘Feels’ in late Spring. The heat was starting to crank up, and my mind was on sunshine and summertime. I was living in an old brick house on the edge of East Atlanta with my friend Matthew Pendrick (Slow Parade) at the time, and Matt would always play old doo-wop and soul records. Our friends were always at the house, hanging out and writing music. Looking back on it, I could say that the musical feel and groove of ‘Feels’ was influenced by my time spent in that house.”

“At the time, I was shooting for simplicity and trying to find some inner peace. I took that into account when writing the song — two simple chords, and then the chorus rolled out. I was thinking about long coastal summertime drives and new love, but it was overcast outside. I added a couple of simple musical turns in the song and had as much fun with it as I could. When we all got together to record ‘Feels’ some of the guys in the band had never played together.”

“It was our first official gathering — a two-night live recording session for two separate singles. We recorded ‘Friends’ the first night, and ‘Feels’ the second. Spent maybe an hour or so working through it, and did three takes. On the last take, everyone vamped the chords, and we spontaneously wrote the last verse, through to the end of the song.”