The absorbing minimalism of "Mouthful of Diamonds" should never stop being praised.

In the fore is the narcotic voice of Sarah Barthel. The synth/drum combo accomplishes great tricks while still leaving so much free space in the mix. The guitar of Josh Carter soars in its moments, providing signature, simple supporting melodies.

Indie songwriters like Phantogram still scrap and hustle on the periphery of music culture, but the melodically/harmonically inventive yet danceable synthetic pop they promulgated has come to influence so much happening in the most mainstream of songs today. There is still a substance and edge -- a self-knowing, intelligent sobriety -- that these indie groups had that mainstream pop will never allow out, for better or worse.

Is this cool little song "fun" the way many indie-inspired mainstream pop songs are? No; if you're of the extroverted, party/fun persuasion, you will gravitate toward Phantogram-inspired music rather than actually Phantogram. That's fine. People need different things. I'm just happy there are groups like Phantogram putting together this kind of pop, nourishing to the ears of those seeking the stirring and strange, while inspiring to the ears of producers in the faster lanes.

The whole album this song comes from, Eyelid Movies, is such a minimalist delight. The restrained drum production is still always ahead of your expectations; the synths put together chords in fragments rather than full triads; the guitar is happy sometimes to play only single-string melodies; the vocals are so unique with dark, charming resonance. Minimalism: Sometimes in restraining your songwriting, you allow the minds of your listeners to fill in a lot of implied music themselves. A phantogram is an illusion - a two-dimensional image that appears to be three-dimensional. It's a perfect metaphor for what this two-person group presents, dynamic simplicity that a listener can make as full as they want to.