After the riot of sound from yesterday we thought we’d swing to the other genre end of thoughtful and melodic, with hints at the bedroom folk we used to be so fond of. Although in this case it was cut in a studio – Adam Granduciel’s studio to be exact. LA-based Marlon Rabenreither, aka Gold Star, explains it all: “There are a lot of things I have difficulty saying, and songwriting sometimes has this ability to vocalize and work through emotions and situations that I am ill-equipped to deal with in my day-to-day life. I don’t usually sit down and decide to write a song about a certain person or event; often the words and sentiments kind of pour out, and it’s only after some time that it becomes clear to me what I am trying to say or why. ‘Phantom Sam’ is a plea to a good friend, a message that says “you are not alone” and “I love you,” things of that nature; it’s all the words that are sometimes hard to say. I had some demos and shared them with Adam Granduciel from The War On Drugs, and he had me come down to his studio–this track seemed to resonate with him in particular, and we cut it there with his help and musical contributions. I have always admired the way his records sounded and the way his music has such classic influences, yet still feels really contemporary and I hoped to accomplish something similar with the production on ‘Phantom Sam’.”
