Phantom Family Halo’s new album ‘When I Fall Out’ avaliable Feb. 14

New York-based Phantom Family Halo, which began in Louisville, has a new album.

“When I Fall Out” will be available February 14 on vinyl or CD, and you can pre-order it here on the Knitting Factory Records website.

So far, the bloggers and critics who’ve gotten advanced copies have been impressed even though the work is a departure from anything PFH has done, said William Benton, guitarist and regular Insider Louisville contributor.

(Last year, a reviewer described PFH’s previous album “Mindeater” as ”spooked-out country,” which we found perfect!)

PFH actually recorded “When I Fall Out” in Louisville last August, not at Knitting Factory in New York where they’re based now.

Kevin Ratterman at the Funeral Home, the guy most famous for recording My Morning Jacket’s “Circuital” and playing drums for Wax Fang, worked with PFH. ”We knew My Morning Jacket just did their album with Kevin,” Benton said. “And he got it, as far as the sound we wanted. And he wanted to do it!

“Kevin has a real enthusiasm.”

The work was recorded in “a short blitz,” three weeks of fevered work, Benton said. “We started to worry about our faculties and ablities; pushing it that hard … would we be able to stay in top form?”

William Benton, left, and Dom Cipolla.

The second album, “Hard Apple Moon,” will come out later this year.

If you’re going to be in New York February 11, there will be a record release party for “When I Fall Out.” at St. Vidus in Brooklyn “an evening of celebrating the record with Old Baby and Loom. Tickets are $10.

Benton said he doesn’t make a habit of listening to PFH. “Out of the eight-to-10 albums I’ve (played on), I don’t own one!” Benton adds he’s proud of all the work, “I just don’t keep that stuff around. But I listened to it, that old work, and it’s a beautiful product!”

More about the new album from the Consequence of Sound website:

Louisville, Kentucky is often called the “Gateway to the South.” But for multi-instrumentalist Dom Cipolla, the city is a gateway to the realm of surreal musical experimentation. Landing in the Derby City in the ’90s, Cipolla has become a cult figure within Louisville’s music community, even teaming with one of that city’s biggest indie darlings, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, for a recent split EP. Now, Cipolla and fellow multi-instrumentalist William Benton, collectively known as The Phantom Family Halo, are readying their most involved album to date, “When I Fall Out.”

The Phantom Family Halo, now based in Brooklyn, has been described as “Krautrock meets Roky Erickson’s solo albums,” with Cipolla citing the Plastic Ono Band, ’70s glam, and Phil Spector as musical reference points. When I Fall Out was recorded at The Funeral Parlor studio with producer Kevin Ratterman (Wax Fang, Elliott). Among the out-of-this-world aesthetic and trippy sonics, the album creates a decidedly dark narrative loosely based on the death of one of Cipolla’s close friends, weighing the ethereal tunes down with real-world sentiments.

For an early taste of the record, CoS is premiering “White Hot Gun”. Despite the name, the track starts off cool, with a standard lo-fi, jangly garage rock beat. But in the background looms a sense of impending dread, always just in the distance. After a few moments of rock goodness, though, the beast springs forward and the track takes off into the ether with a gnarly guitar frenzy.