The Hazy Tracklib Sample on Phantogram's 'Ceremony'

Phantogram dropped the haunting “Mister Impossible” and upbeat “Into Happiness” out of nowhere last year. The tracks were recorded during sessions at the acclaimed Rancho de la Luna studio in Joshua Tree, already sparking rumors about a new album. The release of their new Ceremony album confirms that, and at the same time celebrates the 10th anniversary of their debut album Eyelid Movies.

For the title track, Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel & Josh Carter sampled the keyboard-laden track “Syrenhortensia” by Chicago Hartley, an alias of Swedish award-winning producer Jimmy Ledrac. His music is proven to be a valuable sample source, most notably after producer Romil Hemnani sampled his track “Barefoot” for BROCKHAMPTON's much-praised track “DEARLY DEPARTED.”

"I think Phantogram sampled 'Syrenhortensia' very creative and clever," Jimmy says. "I like the crescendo arrangement of the song and the lyrics make you feel a lot!"

To Jimmy, the sample on Ceremony represents a new wave of sampling: "I am comparing when I started making beats over twenty years ago. You had to buy old vinyl records hoping to find something cool. And also hoping it was possible to clear the sample. And then there was the hustle of tracking down the right people on the labels, et cetera, et cetera... I think Tracklib is showing the way now, how it could be done the modern way."