RELEASED 12TH JULY 2019

Favourite Track: All In My Stride

Palace remind me of a good few British bands but their use of guitar accompanied by stunning vocals creates the most stunning atmosphere and is a great listen when you want to chill out

The London-based three-piece known as Palace have been together since the age of 13 and released their debut album in 2016 according to Spotify but it was the first time I had heard of them. The album cover art for Life After is very artistic looking and depicts flowers almost from the perspective of a tiny creature on the ground. There’s lots of colours and it’s kind of cartoon-like. It really reminded me of Studio Ghibli animation. There are 11 songs that make up the album and I was very keen to listen to all of them and figure out what kind of music the group make.

The opening track ‘Life After’ has an atmospheric, tense opening that then turns into a Rock song with a lot of guitar and drum kit. The vocals are really beautiful and make for a wonderful contrast to the harsher sounding instruments. The song is fairly upbeat sounding but the lyrics give it a melancholic tone about someone “watching from heaven” who is “always beside you” so I guess this song is a positive look on the idea of loss. ‘Berlin’ opens with a slower beat and dream guitar. Their music really reminds me of Coldplay with how chill it is, not to mention the vocals being similar to Chris Martin’s. It also has the musical qualities similar to that of the band, DIIV (so if you know their music, you’ll like this). ‘Face In The Crowd’ has the strumming of the guitar, romantic strings and vocals that kind of remind of Hozier with nice lyrics too. I feel like this song would be used in an episode of a TV series where the main character is going on a walk in the woods after something dramatic has happened (don’t ask me why).

I love the echoing electric/dream guitar plucking in ‘Martyr’. The beat lifts the song and the vocals vary in pace so it’s an interesting listen. There is a nice build to the chorus too with more intense drum kit being used. ‘All In My Stride’ had guitar that I could only associate to London Grammar. That echoing reverbed guitar that is just so beautiful and totally chills you out. The falsetto here is also veryyyy nice. The most atmospheric song and my favourite of the album by far. Our spirits are then lifted when the next song ‘No Other’ comes on which has more of an upbeat sound but still a slow beat focused on him living “his vision”. Big mood. ‘Running Wild’ has a great bass line which adds a nice layer to the song, almost to ground it. The quickened pace of the bass also kinda reflects the idea of running which is a nice touch. The album has a very consistent sound so if you’re into chilled out dream guitar with slower rock drum-kit beats and nice vocals, it’s for you. The last song ‘Heaven Up There’ continues the album’s theme of nature, love, heaven, life and death. It’s slow and quirky sounding but VERY atmospheric again. I like this one a lot because the vocals are also sooo good.  

This album is great for a road trip in the summer with a group of friends. Perfect songs for day and night.