Album Review: Palms - 'Palms'

When you grab a group of musicians who are already heavily active in the music industry, with strong, established careers, and put them in a room with others from different groups, with their own experiences, the result can often be a mess. Equally, it can be something that can even damage the legacy of the musicians involved. Other times, however, there’s a special type of magic that doesn’t come about without such risks being taken, and this is the case with the debut self titled release from Palms.

Featuring members from post-metal band Isis together with Deftones singer Chino Moreno, the group have managed to create a release that pushes everyone involved into new territory, bringing something completely new to the listener, while managing to maintain a strong sense of familiarity for fans of previous releases from the artists.

The soundscape of the album is a consistent style of post-metal that brings a very calm, relaxed feel to anyone listening to it. Synth pads and light guitar tones drive the songs heavily over the top, complimented perfectly by Chino Moreno’s airy, often vacant vocal style, all the while without losing a strong, heavy texture provided by the drums and bass in the rhythm section.

While everything on the album is done fantastically, there is one major flaw in that there’s no clear difference in the foundations of any of the tracks, with all of them seemingly built upon the same musical ideas. That said, this doesn’t discount from the breathtaking ways in which Palms take these ideas and turns them into the beautiful final product we have before us.

Palms is a great release, by a group of seasoned musicians, showing they aren’t afraid to step out of their comfort zone and try something new. Not only that, they’ve also showed that frankly, they’re damn good at it too. The soundscapes here are a sort of airy, breathtaking beauty that is great for anyone looking for something to have in the background and relax to.

1. Future Warrior
2. Patagonia
3. Mission Sunset
4. Shortwave Radio
5. Tropics
6. Antarctic Handshake