PHANTOMS/TWENTY BIO

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Seattle-formed band—these days comprised of vocalist Jason Vena, guitarists Kaylan Cloyd and Christian McAlhaney, drummer/percussionist Garrett Lunceford, and bassist Ryan Zwiefelhofer—are issuing a reworked version of the record called Phantoms/Twenty. And while the band did redo their parts, this isn’t just any standard re-recording. Each song features a guest vocalist, including the mid-album instrumental “Ad Astra Per Aspera”, helping the band re-imagine the record and give new context to its profound and lasting legacy.

“Revisiting it with a blank slate and on your own terms is an exciting option to have,” says McAlhaney. “I don't know that anybody could have prevented what happened from happening, but it led us to where we're at now. And to redo it 20 years later, and to have people still care about it enough that they wanted to do this has been so inspiring—especially to have people involved who are an inspiration to me now.”

The list of the people involved is inspiring and includes a wide range of artists across a wide range of genres. There are those who were already close to Acceptance—the new version of “This Conversation Is Over” features Stephen Christian from Anberlin, the band that McAlhaney joined after Acceptance called it a day, while “Permanent” features guest vocals from Memphis May Fire’s Matty Mullins, who also happens to be Anberlin’s current touring singer. There are appearances from those who circled around or were inspired by the same scene, such as Boys Like Girls frontman Martin Johnson (on opening track “Take Cover”), The Maine’s John O’Callaghan (on “The Letter”), Jenna McDougall from Tonight Alive and Hevenshe, (on “In Too Far”), All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth (on “Different”), and State Champs vocalist Derek DiScanio (on “Over You”). Even mid-album instrumental “Ad Astra Per Aspera” features a contribution from Seattle musician and songwriter Ellisay.

All of the guests here inject a sense of reverence and gratitude into the songs, as if by being on them is their way of saying thank you to the band for making this album all those years ago.

Acceptance also asked each person who contributed to write about why they wanted to take part in Phantoms/Twenty—something that, for the band, was just as meaningful as their guest spots.“It’s been interesting to hear their stories and their takes on the songs,” says McAlhaney, “and to learn why they wanted to do it and why that record was special to them. It was all new information for me, because even though I know some of these artists on a personal level, I don't think they've ever just been like, ‘Let me tell you my history with Acceptance!’ So it's been really cool.”

The project has also shown how widespread the album’s influence is beyond the scene they were part of. Because in addition to those already mentioned, there are a couple of eye-opening and unexpected contributions. Perhaps the most unlikely is Teddy Swims, the pop/R&B/soul crossover singer (better known to his family as Jaten Collin Dimsdale), who has become something of a mainstream phenomenon over the last few years.

“From when we first met Teddy a couple years ago to now,” says McAlhaney, “he's became one of the largest artists on the planet. He’s definitely one of the less obvious ones on this record, but he actually grew up on emo music.”

In fact, when he appeared on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast, Dimsdale admitted that the first song he ever learned to play was an Acceptance one.

“He explained how he used to watch this AOL session of ours,” continues McAlhaney, “and how he'd seen it a thousand times and that's how he learned to play the guitar. I didn't realize it when we first met him, but he's actually a really big fan. So that's huge for us.”

Other names here that might raise some eyebrows in surprise are rising alt-pop star Charlotte Sands, who lends her vocals to “Breathless”, Mitch Grassi from the a cappella group Pentatonix, who features on “In The Cold”, and pop/country singer Cassadee Pope, who appears on album finale “Glory/Us.” It all means that listening to this new version of the record is an experience that’s both familiar and nostalgic, while simultaneously feeling new and exciting. These songs have already stood the test of time—and circumstance—but with Phantoms/Twenty they now exist again in a brand new light, both for the band and their fans.

“No-one in this band ever expected any of this,” McAlhaney says. “It's different for me because I've been in the scene and have been surrounded by it ever since we stopped after this album first came out. But the other dudes, who I've loved forever, are so not in that world that it's still shocking to them that anybody gives a fuck. So it's been a really fun experience to see the reactions of the guys to all this, and I look forward to any opportunities we have to do things and be together in the future.”