Starting things off with a serene naturescape is a bold choice for the titular track for Flume’s upcoming album: Palaces. I welcome the choice as the profile blends perfectly into the few chords of a piano accompanied by a distorted voice. The waves of sound come in as you’re taken into a psychedelic dreamscape before being bombarded and interrupted.
The vocals until now have been calming and hypnotic, they’re louder, messier, and alarming. This is then changed once again with the entrance of Damon Alburn. Of Gorillaz fame, the voice of 2D comes into Flume’s track with lyrics that eerily fit his M.O. After those oddly descriptive lyrics, the melody becomes full once again and we’re taken for one final trip.
This is something that I’ve come to adore and seek out from electronic music. When I was much younger, I flocked to the loud, disorganized, and artificial sounds of EDM. As I grew older, so did the genre. More and more artists needed originality and began to incorporate natural sounds. A piano, the soft picks of strings, the beauty of a synth atop it all. Palaces, while cryptic, is a lot like Porter Robinson’s work in “Worlds.” There’s a distinct beauty in the mixture of physical instruments and the radically unique sounds only capable by a computer.
I really like this song for that reason. It reminds me of a distinct point in my life where I was searching for more and found it. Give it a listen here for yourself and, hopefully, you’ll feel the same.
That’s it for now! For more on your favorites and unknown check out our Word and Drops sections.
