The first recordings I made were so difficult. There weren’t computers, plugins or DAWs. Times have changed. These days young people like Chris Kremer get to utilize modern technology and the whole process is so much easier on so many levels. Kremer released Phantasmic which is a complete DIY effort.
As a full-time engineer and writer I picked up on the sound of most home recordings. There are certain things which are easy to spot like the guitar sound, use of compression and more. From head to to toe Phantasmic sounds like a home recording. From a musical angle the music is simple from a technical perspective. At its heart this album revolves around strummed major and minor chords and 4/4 time. The emotional resonance was also fairly straightforward and is associated with the reflective and nostalgic songwriter. “Darth Vader” is his bread and butter and embraces nostalgia and that reflective and warm energy. It’s somewhere between pop and folk. I enjoyed his voice and thought the chorus in particular was great. It's a certified highlight. “You're Only In Love” is a change in flavor. It sounds a bit like what you imagine an early demo of Vampire Weekend would sound like. He goes back to warm folk with “The Get By” and gets way more introspective and melancholy on “The Universe.” Kremer gets into indie rock territory with “Letting Go.” He sounds great on “The Crab Song (Only Getting So Young)” which is a slower ballad with a ’50s pop flavor. I loved some of the vocal harmonies. “Sagaquarius” has a French flavor as if you are being serenaded with a Flamenco guitar by a body of water. “Answers From the Sky” and “Answers From the Sky (Acoustic)” are fairly straightforward. A lot of the songs had a sense of familiarity. Kremer plays into his influences and sort of the general rule book of songwriting. I would encourage him to get a little experimental once in a while. They could help him land on a signature and singular sound. I think working with a full band and engineer would be obvious next steps. That being said there is some great songwriting scattered throughout the release. I also was impressed with some of the vocal melodies he came up with. Kremer sounds like a musician who is in the embryonic stage of his development but there is true talent here and I hope to hear more soon.
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