LISTEN: “When Everything Was Mine” / “RROTR” by Phoria
Over the past few years, Phoria have become known for their colourful, visually evocative soundscapes with the release of their debut LP Volition (and two EP’s: 2013’s “Bloodworks: and 2014’s “Display”). Top 5’s on Hype Machine, support from BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music followed – along with over 41 million Spotify streams. The band has supported James Vincent McMorrow, Little Dragon, Poliça, Active Child on tour, and made festival appearances at Latitude, Soundwave, Blue Dot, Dot To Dot, The Great Escape and SXSW, where they were named one of NPR’s standout acts in their “Austin 100” class of 2017.
After dropping the early classical-inspired track ‘Mass (Re-Imagined)’ earlier this year, the Brighton five-piece today return with the second offering off their forthcoming sophomore LP, via a double single release “When Everything Was Mine”/”Rrotor” out via X Novo/Akira Records.
“When Everything Was Mine”/”Rrotor” are both deeply emotive, beguiling electronic folk-pop cuts, anchored on a lush, elegant arrangement of softly lulled piano over hypnotic electronics, all layered with ethereal vocals by lead singer/composer Trewin Howard, whose own synesthesia informs the band’s multidimensional aesthetic.
In “When Everything Was Mine,” Howard continues to reject the notion that lyrics have to have conventional narratives. To him, a lyric can be a small self-contained unit of feeling, or a musical texture in the fabric of the song itself. In the track, he takes that concept to its logical extremity, creating a complex emotive musical and thematic idea from a song title alone. In ‘Rrotor’ his aptitude for stacking and mixing vocals like instruments makes for an intriguing and impossible to pin down electronic performances.
