New Music: Phantom Handshakes – Good Intentions

Phantom Handshakes is a dreampop outfit comprising Federica Tassano and Matt Sklar. Based in two different cities – New York and New Orleans – they still manage to create sublime and seamless tracks, such as Good Intentions.

The opening track of their upcoming Sirens at Golden Hour long player; this is a song that jangles and glides, the arrangement rippling like water under the easy-on-the-ear flow and sun-dappled presence of Tassano’s vocals.

Surprisingly up-tempo, the track feels incredibly calming, even as it takes a sensitive and openminded look at how we need not value ourselves by the metrics set for us by society and others.

File Good Intentions next to the music of GRAZER, Fazerdaze, and The Sundays for those moments when you just need to lose yourself in a daydream full of reflection.

Says the band about Good Intentions, “The track was self-produced by us in our respective home studios. The song explores how, despite our best intentions, we sometimes fall short of achieving the goals we set out for ourselves, possibly due to bad days, anxiety, or mental and physical issues.”

“And It’s perfectly okay to take a step back, proceed at a slower pace, adjust our objectives. However, this can be difficult to accept in a society that values efficiency and success as top qualities.”

Sirens at Golden Hour is set for release on the 21st of August and is currently up for pre-order on Bandcamp. Good Intentions can be streamed on YouTube and Spotify; and for album news and other listening options for the band’s music, check out Phantom Handshakes on Facebook or Instagram.