A surprisingly coherent and consistent record from these east London pretenders, combining spiky synths du-jour with pop sensibilities for their debut on Loog Records.
Leaping out of their Dalston crysalis after 12 months’ gigging in art spaces and warehouses, this Paul Epworth-produced debut is already surrounded by hype.
Palace refracts fashionable influences like Echo & The Bunnymen, My Bloody Valentine and Interpol through its widescreen pop filter, stretching melodies over vast post-punk and electro soundscapes.
New single Surfacing is a dourly synth-drenched, drum-punctured song that twists the classic Dream A Little Dream Of Me for a delightful slug of bitterness.
Lewis Bowman’s deep, almost-drawled vocals on The Shore adds a delicious loucheness to the sagging electro wall of sound, too.
Elsewhere, After The Flood’s serrated krautrock guitars and the soaring, pounding singalong All The Eastern Girls reveal their innate grasp of pop; easy melodies disarming art student-y pretention.
4 stars
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