![]() ![]() The vastness does nothing more than providing dead air. It is atmospheric and built around open space, much like Flume’s homeland, but it doesn’t communicate anything with that concept. It would be fine that Palaces is less experimental than Hi This Is Flume if it wasn’t also so listless. Palaces is so obsessed with the serenity of open air that it forgets how much more exciting Flume is when he picks apart a single concept. He drags it through the wringer in a display of singularity that the rest of the album lacks. Flume revolves around a single melody and juices every sound he can from it. It’s the strangest song here, an intimate piece that tilts a piano melody through phasers and effects in an ever circulating motion. Similarly, “Jasper’s Song” shows how much is missing on Palaces compared to Hi This Is Flume. There are few other songs where Flume pushes himself like “Get U,” as he’s more comfortable sticking to a routine. ![]() He adds and subtracts textures, and unfolds samples into a song that communicates Australia’s diverse landscape. “Get U” is a bassy counterpoint to Palaces’ airiness wherein Flume reclaims his role as the protagonist. Flume slinks onto his own tangents when he’s not trying to shoehorn anybody in. It’s too short and breathless, like it’s satisfied with only running the first half of a 400-meter sprint.īuried in Palaces are fragments of Flume’s inventiveness. ![]() Even on more gripping tracks like “DHLC” Flume seems too preoccupied with a lackadaisical approach to push himself. It lacks energy, as if Flume took only the most apprehensive traits from Byron Bay’s quiet life. MAY-A works alongside the escalating beat and tuns in a solid performance, but Flume’s hands-off approach leaves much to be desired. The MAY-A duet “Say Nothing” spells out Palaces’ vacuousness. There are few sparks between Flume and whoever graces the microphone, and it’s hardly ever the vocalist’s fault. Flume mingles with KUČKA on “Escape,” keeps Laurel at arms’ length on “I Can’t Tell” and leaves Damon Albarn to his own devices on the title track. Compare the chemistry between Flume and slowthai on “High Beams” from Hi This Is Flume to any companion piece here. He places his collaborators into his frameworks instead of working alongside them. The rarity of the Australian fauna is not reflected on Palaces so much as the fact that Australia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world.ĭespite the fact that most of Palaces was recorded live there’s a disconnect between Flume and his guests. Byron Bay breathes life into Palaces, but the album fails to capture the town’s charm. He pays homage to the area’s unique wildlife, going as far as integrating bird calls that he recorded himself. He ditches that hedonism in favor of Byron Bay’s simplicity. Palaces arrives after Flume claims he’s over the large clubs and booming nightlife that he dove into over the past decade. He’s much happier to wake up, surf, and mix his music, all but forgetting the pythons slithering on his roof. He doesn’t own much, nor does he aspire to. Based on an interview he gave to NME, he doesn’t mind. After recording Palaces in the United States, Flume relocated to Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia, a town so small that he claims he couldn’t even find an Uber there. ![]()
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