Scars

We say

After only eight months together Finnish duo Phantom have picked up 80k YouTube views and impressed The XX with this eloquent slice of contemporary trip hop. Their home video for Scars - made with an XBox Kinect - is a great example of how an idea is of greater value than a budget. The visual masterpiece has been stuck on repeat since we saw them play Helsinki's Flow Festival last weekend (full festival feature in next week's magazine) and out of the 950+ likes on YouTube there is only a solitary dislike. Just three months into their formation they launched this single with a performance at SXSW and have quickly established themselves as a tastemaker tip, with support from a mass of blogs including Ja Ja Ja, which acted as a catalyst for the blogosphere as the track spread the world over. Hanna Toivonen's sulty jazz inspired vocals and Tommi Koskinen original handmade MIDI theremin (AKA UFO) will no doubt lead to comparisons of electronic pioneers Massive Attack, easy listening elements of Zero 7 and the minimalism of The XX themselves. Although it's very early days, these two Finnish creatives are making all the right steps to carve a distinct career of their own. Video.

London Gig: September 27, JaJaJa Club, The Lexington N1

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Band: Phantom