Phantoms - This Can’t Be Everything (LP) - Orange Vinyl

Phantoms have always thrived in that sweet spot where house music gets a little misty eyed, and their second album, This Can’t Be Everything, sticks the landing. The Los Angeles duo of Kyle Kaplan and Vinnie Pergola released it on August 12, 2022 through Foreign Family Collective, the label run by ODESZA, and it plays like a late night drive turning into sunrise. The tempos bump, the synths glow, and the melodies linger long after the last kick fades.

What hits first is how self-assured the production feels. The pair lean into rich, analog‑leaning synth work, rubbery bass lines, and crisp drum programming that nods to classic house without sounding retro. The opener sets a patient mood, then they start tightening the screws, track by track, until you are fully inside their world. They favor uncluttered arrangements, which lets the hooks breathe. No EDM sugar rush here, just smart builds, warm chords, and vocals that feel lived in rather than pasted on.

Firepit, which rolled out as a single and quickly became a setlist pillar on their 2022 tour, is a perfect entry point. It snaps into place with a sinewy bass and a vocal that aches without tipping into melodrama. The chorus sneaks up on you, then you realize it has been stuck in your head all afternoon. The title feels right too, since so much of this album circles around the glow of small moments, the little lights that keep you going when things tilt sideways.

Phantoms have talked about growing up together and learning to trust their instincts in the studio, and you can hear that ease. There is a sense of movement across the sequence, from sleek, club‑ready cuts to songs that flirt with synth pop and indie dance. When they push the tempo, the drums stay punchy and dry, the bass holds a pocket you can actually dance in, and the top lines resist the urge to shout. When they slow down, they go for texture, stacking airy pads and filtered arpeggios that land with a gentle thud in the chest.

The pairing with Foreign Family Collective makes a lot of sense. Fans of that camp tend to chase melody and melancholic lift, and This Can’t Be Everything is full of it. You can throw on almost any track and find a lyrical sliver about change, memory, or the thin line between nostalgia and forward motion. It reads personal without closing the door on the dance floor. In that way, it has more in common with the emotional house of the last decade than chart‑baiting festival fodder.

As a full listen, the record flows. They program the breaks in pace well, letting your ears reset with introspective bridges, then slide back into a four on the floor driver. Vocals are used as instruments as much as stories. Chopped phrases flicker through the mix, and when a lead line takes center stage it earns the space. The engineering is dialed, especially in the low end. On a proper system, the kick and bass relationship is tight enough to make you grin, and small percussive details ping around the stereo field like sparks.

If you collect, This Can’t Be Everything vinyl is worth hunting down. The album’s dynamics translate beautifully on wax, and the sequencing feels made for two sides, the kind of ride that rewards flipping the record and settling back in. Phantoms vinyl tends to disappear faster than you would expect, so if you buy Phantoms records online, do not sleep on restocks. For crate diggers browsing a Melbourne record store or scanning new arrivals among vinyl records Australia, this is a modern indie dance keeper that slots nicely next to ODESZA, SG Lewis, or Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. It also rounds out a shelf of Phantoms albums on vinyl with something that plays as well at home as it does on a night drive.

There is no grand reinvention here, which is part of the charm. Phantoms refine what they do best, write songs that feel honest, and produce them with care. The title might hint at limitations, but the music argues the opposite. It gives you plenty, invites you back for another spin, and leaves a few corners shadowed so the next listen has something new to show.