Phantom – shimmering, brooding and dramatic

“Low-lit music, a voice to still your beating heart, a torched romantic soul, smoke and mirrors”

…So says the press release for Canadian born songstress Elsie Martins’ Phantom. Boasting a voice that makes me think PJ Harvey at her most seductive, and wearing the longest false eye lashes this side of the 60’s, Phantom make an interesting, brooding sound.

Martins (vocals/guitar/organ) is joined by Jonny Martin (bass/e bow), Stefania Manso (violin/viola/more organ) and Steve Lewins (drums/guitar/glockanspeil/melodica), aiding and abetting to bring to life gorgeous pop-noir, sounding like The Velvet Underground whilst also sounding contemporary.

On ‘Great Pretender’, Elsie Martins bemoans the dark side of life, of having to lie, steal and cheat to get where she wants to be, warning us all that she is “…the great pretender…”, breathing and sighing in such a way that you probably wouldn’t notice if she was nicking your wallet at the same time.

Now based in London, Phantom have appeared on BBC Radio’s Tom Robinson Show as well as performing an acoustic set for Canada’s MusiquePlus TV channel.

The first track on their MySpace page, ‘Broken Bones’, could easily be the soundtrack to any American private-eye movie, all shimmering guitars and sliding strings, whilst Martins croons over the top “…see these hips / hear these lips / they’ll never be yours…”

Having said that, Martins has not counted on the media’s penchant for such dramatic, understated scores (see Glasvegas and The Last Shadow Puppets for examples). I don’t expect it to be long before we are hearing a lot more of this ethereal Phantom.

http://www.myspace.com/thisisphantomuk