Five years ago, Vice published an article entitled ‘Palace are Jamie T’s favourite new band and should be yours too’.
Track back to 2014’s ‘Veins’ and you will meet Palace midway through a different, edgier phase. Mopey, husky, the (enjoyable) song staggers along like someone with nothing to get up for on a Friday morning, too cool for its own Borough. Jump forward and Palace have left behind their contemporaries, maturing gracefully without having to settle for a nine-til-five.
Latest release ‘Martyr’ is happy with the pace at which life is going. Guitars flicker in the background as frontman Leo Wyndham’s eases the listener in with cool, slurred vocals. Imagine JAWS in 2014, but having tidied their room and chilled the fuck out.
With great care, the band have managed to put something together here that feels both a little out of control – hurt lyrics and guitars wailing like sirens throughout – and progressive, structured, holding onto youth without embarrassing itself. Where similar artists in the last few years have been forced to reimagine themselves or risk assimilation, Palace invite us to their upcoming album Life After , set for release in July 2019, with their identity intact: confident enough in their abilities to pace their growth.
Words by James Reynolds
@JimReynoldsUK