Debut self-titled EP from Hull-based alternative/indie ‘ghost collective.’ O’Phantom offers a dose of early-80s post-punk, refreshed and revitalised.
Release Date: 9th May 2025
Label: Self Release
Format: Digital
A GHOST COLLECTIVE
Hull-based alternative/indie ‘ghost collective’ O’Phantom draw their influences from bands such as Broadcast, Stereolab and The Cure – and it shows. This self-titled offering is the band’s debut recording and I’ve no doubt that there’s lots more in the pipeline.
“I’d been writing songs acoustically, playing them occasionally at The Adelphi down the road and nagging my mates Rose and Rowan to play on some demos,” says frontman Daniel Mawer, speaking of O’Phantom’s origins. “That naturally led to practices and roping other mates in as a collective to play some shows together. Fast-forward six months and that’s the band we find ourselves in today.”
SONGS INSPIRED BY THE GOTHIC COUNTRYSIDE
Material began to coalesce as the embryonic band’s members took drives through the gothic countryside that surrounds their native Humberside until Daniel and the guys felt sufficiently confident to ask producer Matt Peel to take them in hand and boot them into shape. “It felt good to reflect our surroundings both in name and with the music we make,” says Mawer. “I also wanted to keep the image of the collective as vague as possible; it’s a project I want to pursue for the rest of my life, so making whoever plays with us as ‘phantom-esque’ as possible seems like a good idea.”
EARLY 80s POST-PUNK SOUNDS
The early-80s sound is there from the start in the choppy drumbeat, jangly keyboard and Peter Hook-referencing bass sound of opening track Cold Call. Daniel’s vocals are low-ish in the mix but that doesn’t detract from their vitality. The impression is of a joyful song that’s made its appearance just in time for this year’s festival season.
There’s a slightly slower pace to Shadow Pain, but no loss of intensity. Clangy guitar and throbbing bass set the agenda as Daniel delivers his lyrics with a breathless urgency. It’s tight, and it packs one heck of a punch. And Daniel sings his dystopian lyrics to a bullet-fast beat in Phantom, the EP’s most overtly-80s sounding track. Synths simmer in the background as the bass keeps up its quickfire rhythm and you can imagine the blast of the stage lights as the song enters its illuminating chorus.
A CONFIDENTIAL CONFESSIONAL
There’s a rattle of a bag of dried-out bones to introduce closing track, Skeleton. Daniel’s voice is front and centre as he sings his message of resigned frustration: “The skeleton is sick and tired of being dragged around. The skeleton holds me up when I fall apart.” The full band kick in at the song’s midpoint and, suddenly, a confidential confessional is turned into a heavy metal anthem as the song, and the EP reach an agonizing conclusion: “No time to breathe, no time to grieve. Time was a friend, and now – it will repent.”
Watch the official video to Cold Call, the EP’s opening track, below:
O’Phantom online: Instagram / X (formerly Twitter) / YouTube / Bandcamp / Spotify
Keep up with At The Barrier: Facebook / X (formerly Twitter) / Instagram / Spotify / YouTube