Synopsis

Set against a barren New Zealand landscape, "Phantasm" follows two strange beings moving through an otherworldly desert. One appears as a shaggy, tumbleweed-like creature, while the other is an unstable, translucent figure whose form constantly shifts between human, mechanical, and alien shapes. Their encounter unfolds as a quiet, surreal journey rather than a conventional narrative, with the stark setting and dreamlike transformations echoing the track's airy vocals, fractured rhythms, and sense of weightless movement.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Phantasm" appears on Flying Lotus' 2012 album "Until the Quiet Comes," but its standalone music video was released on May 7, 2014, roughly 19 months after the album.

• The song features vocals by Laura Darlington, who was also associated with the experimental duo The Long Lost.

• The video was filmed over two days on Desert Road on New Zealand's North Island.

• Production was notably small-scale: the shoot involved two performers and the person operating the camera.

• The footage was captured on a Canon 5D Mark II, using mainly vintage lenses.

• The video's handmade, tactile quality contrasts with its science-fiction imagery. Its unusual creatures and shifting body effects create an alien atmosphere without relying on a conventional futuristic setting.

• Contemporary coverage often compared the landscape to an extraterrestrial world, with the video's combination of desert imagery, strange costumes, and practical-looking transformations reinforcing the song's dreamlike mood.