A year ago, Nashville-based Jake Germany set out to create PHANGS, a project that generates both chillwave tunes and 80's influenced electro-pop ditties. This newcomer independently released his debut album Get In My Arms today and it's suited perfectly for fans of LANY and Flor.
The title track "Get In My Arms" features a fluid, soft melody with sprinkled powerful guitar riffs and dominant drum beats that enter at every right moment. With his elegant croons, PHANGS emits raw emotions early and really invites listeners to take part in his story rather than simply view it.
The two pre-released singles "Cul De Sac" and "Always Been U" feat. R.LUM.R. follow "Get In My Arms" to get the album moving. On "Cul De Sac" and "Always Been U," PHANGS swiftly sings the verses like running water chasing the waterfall of the chorus. It's a unique delivery that will help him stand out among his other electro-pop contemporaries. "Cul De Sac" reminds us of the short-lived summer flings with neighborhood kids and the nostalgia that hits once we return to reality. We drift along the flourishing synths until we arrive at the album anthem "Always Been U." The winding, explosive "Always Been U" undoubtedly claims the spot as PHANGS' most popular track to date and the only one that includes a vibrant music video to tell its tale.
"Used 2 Dream" and, "I Think I'm in Love?" invite us to slow dance with PHANGS as he reflects on the hesitations and the heartbreak that accompany allowing someone into your inner thoughts. "Used 2 Dream" struggles with a partner that won't meet him halfway over a soulful synth harmony where "I Think I'm in Love?" melodically flutters along with flute-like whistles and xylophone keyboard hits.
We enter a different vein of the album with siren sounds and front-and-center electric guitar elements of "Used." The enraged melody echoes the hurtful, biting story that lies within the lyrics. Finally, "Time Goes By" closes out the album with meditations on the shortness of time and a vibrating, slightly erratic rhythm that parallels humans fluctuating relationship to time. The last few seconds of the song include audio from, what we can assume is, an old family video and we hear a young Jake talking to a family member. It's an emotive ending that illuminates the charming beginning of PHANGS.
PHANGS succeeds in his debut album Get In My Arms and showers us with nostalgia-infused synth pop jams and ambient dream-pop lullabies.
