Tourist, Anthony Ruptak’s latest album, which drops today, is best described as a set of songs written as observations from the trenches of modern life, particularly those battlefronts where the very things that keep society balanced and civilization possible are themselves the spoils of war. And like all no-mans-lands, if and when things are resolved, what, one wonders, will be left for the winners to claim?
If Ruptak describes the album as “a broad collection of ruminations on the overall state of the world in the year 2025”, then “Phantasmagoria” is the perfect snapshot single, a glimpse into the heart of the album, a teaser and taste for the larger work.
Broadly reminiscent of those shimmering, folk-infused indie bands of the early 2000s, such as Bright Eyes, Midlake or Bon Iver, it is a gorgeously subtle piece, one that uses emotion and understatement as its chief weapons, building a soundscape that ebbs and flows between articulate folk fonesse and lush indie artistry. These understatement, these motifs, and musical touches merely frame the lyrics, allowing their message to be clearly heard, succinct, and sonically uncluttered.
And if the message were not clear enough, the video drives it home: a series of vignettes, scenes, and scenarios that encapsulate the narrator’s frustration and anxieties, whilst underlining just how detached we have become from the real world, thanks to technology and anti-social media. Watch to the end, there’s a brilliant, if stark, visual punchline.
If you can listen to “Phantasmagoria” and not want to buy the album immediately, or failing that, try to change the world, then perhaps music is not for you after all!
