Phantom Handshakes - "Stubborn"

2020 hasn’t given us much in the way of great unions. For one, Pooja and I had to postpone our wedding, as did friends of ours. With social distancing and lockdown orders in place, collaborations between musicians have been tough, too. But the recent union of Matt Sklar (Exiles, Parrot Dream, The Planes) and Federica Tassano (Sooner, Mônetre) is a welcome one, a perfect amalgamation of two similarly music minded and talented figures in the Brooklyn music scene. Over the course of the last few months, the two connected and formed a new project called Phantom Handshakes, with Tassano providing vocals for a series of songs written by Sklar. The end product sounds absolutely stunning, and impressively, it was recorded entirely separately in their respective homes.

“Stubborn,” the lead single from their debut EP Be Estranged, is a nice mix of jangle and lush dream pop textures. As expected, Tassano’s gorgeous voice is the perfect accompaniment to the song, as it meshes perfectly with some celestial sounding synths and guitars.  The song’s delicate rhythm is a nice hybrid of elements you’d hear in a Sundays and Jesus And Mary Chain tune, with a subtle, but driving bassline and a soft beat.

You can stream “Stubborn” and the rest of the EP on your platform of choice, including Spotify.  You can also purchase it via Bandcamp. All proceeds from Bandcamp sales will be donated to Color of Change. Keep up with Phantom Handshakes by following them on Instagram and liking them on Facebook.