Phone Tag crafts shimmering pop tunes that feel light and airy despite having more layers than a Rothko.

In a previous life, Gryphon Graham blogged about the financial crisis. Such material concerns couldn’t be further from his mind as he dons the Phone Tag moniker, which he debuted earlier this summer with the cathartic ‘Ghosts Behind.’

For a few seconds, ‘Hide Tides’ sounds like an XX tune, with its simple drum machine beat and trilling guitar melody. But it quickly opens up to reveal an expanse of rumbling drum fills and a lush collage of gentle arpeggios. As Graham sings “and as the walls cave in on you, you’ll find the mark of mutilation,” his vocals share the breathless intimacy of James Mercer.