"Phantoms Can't Hang" is a single by deadmau5 featured on his seventh studio album, while(1<2). It was released on 10 June 2014 under mau5trap, Astralwerks, and Virgin EMI. This track served as the fourth and final single from the album.
Background[]
On 7 October 2013, Zimmerman shared four demos on his SoundCloud account, titled "Unicomp", "where phantoms sleep", "Where Phantoms Sleep 02", and "Where Phantoms Sleep 03". These short demos experimented with different arpeggios and chord progressions, and interestingly, they included the melody of "Avaritia".
On 8 October 2013, "where phantoms sleep 04" was posted, marking the first appearance of the finalized arpeggios. This would also be the last demo to include the "Avaritia" melody before the tracks were split into separate compositions. Additionally that day, Zimmerman uploaded "When Phantoms do what everyone else is doin" and an extended version titled "Phantoms Can't Hang".
The final version of "Phantoms Can't Hang" premiered on the mau5trap SoundCloud page on 9 June 2014, a day before its official release on 10 June 2014.
Releases[]
Digital[]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Phantoms Can't Hang" | 9:15 |
Trivia[]
- It is speculated that the name's meaning is "Phantoms Can't Hang [Themself]", as it is big room parody of the track "Where Phantoms Sleep."
- This is further supported by the description of "When Phantoms do what everyone else is doin", which read: i need money. sorry.
- The vocals featured in the breakdown were previously used in "Blue File", a track from the compilation Project 56.
- "Unicomp" appeared to be a remix of "Rej" by Âme as it featured similar chord progression and plucks.
- Zimmerman played an updated mix of "Where Phantoms Sleep" during the Cube V3 Tour in 2019.