FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Wow, Let's All Listen to 'Home,' the Album by Experimental Pop Crew (and Makonnen's Band) Phantom Posse

The New York collective just made a killer ambient pop album or something like that.

Besides being a Grammy-nominated artist who makes songs with Drake and Wiz Khalifa, Makonnen is a real dude. Which is to say he's made all kinds of fire music and worked with all kinds of awesome people who are not platinum-selling rappers. Some of those people are Key! and Father. Some of those people are a nebulous collective of New York musicians named Phantom Posse, who are sort of like a post-internet Broken Social Scene. Phantom Posse was founded in 2012 by Eric Littman—a.k.a. Steve Sobs, a.k.a. Phantom Power, a.k.a. the guy who co-produced Makonnen's recent song "Super Clean."

Advertisement

Today, the group released their new album, Home, via the Fader, and damn does it slap. It is killer ambient pop, or something like that. It's lounge jazz and indie rock and chillwave. There is a song on which Makonnen delivers a spoken word missive on being stuck in New York and trying to remember his dad's cell phone number. There is another, called "She Gets Lonely," that sounds like Makonnen made a Cocteau Twins song. All of it is awesome, and I apologize to the other band members for immediately mentioning the Makonnen connection, which is only part of what makes this album good. Shouts out also to Renee, for her singing on the stripped-down pop of "Blue Diamonds" and Nadia, for her super laid-back take on deep house that turns into a minimalist guitar jam on "Story City." Okay, shouts out to everyone. I don't know who did what, exactly. But this is dope. Good work everyone. Let's all listen below, where you can also find the full lineup, courtesy of Fader:

Phantom Posse:

Eric Littmann (aka Phantom Power aka Steve Sobs)
Renee Anderson (1/2 of Private Life)
Cale Israel (aka Cherry Tuna aka member of Cult and Leper)
Nadia Hulett (1/2 of Nineteen)
Chris Masullo (aka Nicholas Nicholas)
Tom Beddoe (aka Cheetah Lamp)
Makonnen Sheran (aka ILoveMakonnen)
Tyler Andere
Jay Kineke (aka Moonlight Mischief Club)
Sandra Seminara (our resident artist)

Follow Kyle Kramer on Twitter.