Phantom Limb

by Dan Worth

Soft and subtle wins the the race

"The sound paints a canvas that is coloured with gospel, folk and soul, creating a sound that is warm and embracing; easy on the ear, but without falling into the trap of merely being ‘chilled-out’."

Phantom Limb had the honour of achieving the coveted “single of the week” (i.e. it got the big quote) with their first single ‘Don’t Say A Word’ on August 11. Therefore when the album came through the door at the NN house, so to speak, there was much optimism that the album would prove equally as good.

Phantom Limb are a five-piece band who hail from Bristol and have already graced stages at Glastonbury and SXSW and just seem to have that aura of success about them already. The album, self-titled ‘Phantom Limb’, does indeed carry off where the single left of, painting a canvas that is coloured with gospel, folk and soul, creating a sound that is warm and embracing; easy on the ear, but without falling into the trap of merely being ‘chilled-out'. It would be equally perfect for a cold winters day when the rain is lashing the windows or to soundtrack your BBQ in the summer, a glass of something measured by its percentage in hand.

The music, beautifully sparse and yet lovingly crafted, would be let down if the singer couldn’t match or surpass it. There are no dangers of that here though as lead singer Yolanda Quartey has a voice that’s every part the hazy, jazzy, soul-laden sound it has to be. Her voice has that je ne sais quoi that immediately draws you in – if you hear this on the radio you’ll stop what you were doing to actively listen to her voice, it’s that good. She couldn’t have been anything other than a singer with a name like that either.

Even when the band don’t quite get it right they manage to suggest that this is not due to lack of ability, but rather through their desire to try out variations on their general themes. While 'Spring Flowers' doesn’t’ quite work, Quartey’s vocals overly high and slightly grating set against the more downbeat music, it’s only a bad song in context of the rest of the album and suggests the band have the desire to push themselves, even on a debut album where it might be tempting to play it safe.

This determination is rewarded on tracks like 'Hard Way' - 8m 20sec of soaring vocals, piano and Hammond Organ lines, that weaves its way like a river towards a fantastic conclusion of Quartey merely singing 'wooahhsss' and 'aahhhsss' over the building sound of the music before fading back into silence and the sound of waves crashing. A fitting finale.

There’s plenty of quiet music out there, for a while quiet was the new loud, and it can be a risky sound to ply – loud forces you to listen, at first at least, where as soft, woozy sounds like this that try to coax you in can easily pass you by. But Phantom Limb's seductive sound plays it cool and is served with a side order of style and finesse is a cut above the rest, and could be just what you need to make that transition from summer to winter.

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