PHANTOMGRID marks Joachim Pastor’s most personal chapter: ten finely crafted tracks, instinctive writing, and a documentary about his obsessions (AI, controllers, aviation) that dives deep behind the scenes of the album. A major figure of French melodic techno, Joachim Pastor delivers with PHANTOMGRID a third album that…
A major figure of French melodic techno, Joachim Pastor delivers with PHANTOMGRID a third album that refocuses everything on emotion, texture and storytelling. Ten tracks like so many luminous corridors, from “Phantomgrid” to “Synthetic Recall”, by way of “Take Away the Pain”, “Field of Snakes”, “Carry On” and “Happy Now?” (with 88Birds), the focus track with an intimate feel.
Conceived as a dive into what lies behind our perceptions, the record questions memory, reality and that invisible “grid” that structures the world. Pastor composed it very instinctively, often first “in his head” before going into the studio: a return to fundamentals that reveals his signature, with crystal-clear melodic lines, carefully crafted rhythms and tension that builds without showing off.
To accompany the release, a documentary condenses his obsessions (AI, building controllers, electronics, aviation) and puts the artist back at the centre: watching, searching, tinkering, feeling, and only then producing. It reveals the workshop behind the stage and the thinking that runs through PHANTOMGRID.
Already backed by an international audience (Tomorrowland, Solidays, Dour, Paléo, Delta) and a million monthly listeners, Joachim Pastor offers here the most personal album of his career, a record that copies nothing, prefers sincerity to easy effects and quite simply lays the foundations for his next chapter. Start with “Happy Now?” for a dose of humanity, then let “Field of Snakes” and “Carry On” take over.
PHANTOMGRID is available everywhere. Enjoy the journey.
