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Phantom Pink, the hauntingly tender alias of Los Angeles-based artist Brayton Walls, makes music that unfolds like a series of film scenes rather than conventional songs. His new single, “Czech New Wave”, is a direct example of that approach, taking inspiration from the mid-1960s Czechoslovak film movement of the same name.
“It’s a very humanist song,” Walls explains. “It’s about not being afraid to love, leaving your hand outstretched – whether or not it’s scary doesn’t matter because it’s powerful.” That embracing of risk translates into the song itself, as vocals are laid bare over low and muted strings, soft percussion rises and falls in waves, and occasional saxophone adds a subtle jazz-tinged texture. Gradually, it builds dissonant layers and interweaving countermelodies, never anarchic or overbearing, before pulling back toward the end.
Walls explicitly connects this musical approach to the ethos of the Czech New Wave, a movement that found humour and honesty in oppressive circumstances. The impulse to find truth within constraint is central to Walls’ songwriting, evident in “Czech New Wave”, where hushed vocals are occasionally doubled, and a lightly distorted electric guitar enters near the end, not as a standout climax but as another voice. His interest in music reflected as emotional storytelling rather than showiness. “I love how [the movement] took a very dreary, black-and-white world and turned it into a very colourful and comedic, deeply ironic world,” he says. “I thought I needed something like that in my life.”
The single previews Walls’ forthcoming album, Gothika, due later this year. “The songs in it are little fragments of an unreliable narrator,” he says. “A lot are based on films and film movements, and a lot of the work on this album is incredibly human.” These ideas are rooted in Walls’ own background. Originally from Las Vegas, he began writing songs at 10 years of age to navigate identity and personal conflict. He spent years in DIY scenes across the West Coast, and has frequented similar live gigs in London, citing The Windmill in Brixton as a particular favourite venue. “DIY scenes at their core are about people,” he explains. “Being in lots of bands and playing lots of DIY shows makes you realise that music is heavily about the people that surround you and influence you. It’s about the connections and friends you make, that sense of community.”
He sees a parallel with the Czech New Wave: “A lot of those movies had the same cast and directors, so in a way that was a scene in and of itself, with people spreading their ideas together.” The song also demonstrates this collaborative ethos, with jazz musicians adding texture and tonal depth. “A lot of this song was me hunched over in my studio figuring things out, but I loved having jazz musicians in my orbit who could take things that are more black-and-white rock-and-roll and give it so much colour.”
Walls’ influences extend beyond jazz and art-rock, citing the ambient works of Brian Eno and John Cale, alongside the uneasy, eerie scores of films such as A24’s A Ghost Story, which features a moment that “sounds like a wedding and a funeral at the same time,” he describes. “That idea ended up written into the lyrics.” Listening to “Czech New Wave”, one is reminded of Elliott Smith’s waltzing, fragile later works and the subdued murkiness of King Krule’s punk-jazz moments.
Phantom Pink is a distinct voice among contemporary artists, using historical reference for emotional resonance. “I’m always looking for old tried and true ideas to bring into a modern age,” he says. With that as his mission, “Czech New Wave” prioritises authenticity over charts or trends, inviting listeners into a world where colour emerges quietly from the grey.
English (US) · 