Fan Death - Veronica’s Veil [PH03]

Erol Alkan: “’Back in July 2008, I received a direct message from a Myspace page belonging to Fan Death, asking if I would want to listen to a track they had finished which they thought I may like. I remember I was in a hotel room in Amsterdam killing some time before a gig so I replied that I’d love to listen. Minutes later, I received an email attached with an mp3 of ’Veronica’s Veil’ and fell in love with it and asked if I could sign it to my new label, Phantasy. I had no idea who was behind it at the time, our conversation was pretty cryptic throughout, but then, as we talked more and more, it dawned on me that I may already know the person at the other end of this exchange. It wasn’t a few months later till I eventually met Dandi (who I had met before through Late Of The Pier) and Martha when they came over to the UK. By then I had signed, remixed and released ’Veronica’s Veil’ as the third single on Phantasy. On a personal level, it’s still one of my favourite reworks but that’s more down to the original’s string arrangement and vocals... I spent a month on the remix before I got it right, I think there’s around 3 different versions of it floating around on a hard drive..“ The hype surrounding Fan Death (named after a South Korean urban legend surrounding the dangers of leaving your electric fan running overnight) got to boiling point, and ’Veronica’s Veil’ could be seen as Phantasy’s first ’hit’ single when it was eventually released on December 8th 2008. The Guardian wrote: “They’re a girl duo who recognise that all the best disco records were sung by women, and they sing in the blank, distracted manner of all the finest disco divas. Really, they hardly sing at all – they open their mouths and pout and this spookily, exquisitely blank, almost Teutonic sound comes out. And, again like all the finest disco acts, they’re anonymous, a blank canvas on which listeners can project their ultimate fantasies of romance and dancing, their wistful feelings of longing and regret. They make us think about the allure of sorrow, the sadness of the glamorous life and what the Pet Shop Boys used to call “the void at the heart of dance culture“ It was also the first video we put out there, which the band shot themselves. We pressed this on two seperate vinyl editions: black and splattered clear vinyl, both of which sold out immediately. The sleeve was designed by their friend, Ryan Chapman. Click here and subscribe to Phantasy’s channel to get updates on all new videos.