Palace – Life After (2019) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Palace – Life After (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 47:09 minutes | 934 MB | Genre: Indie Folk, Alt-Country, Singer-Songwriter
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Fiction

With their sublime second album, Palace have pulled off a rare pop trick. Songs steeped in darkness emerge in to light, from bleak situations spring fresh starts. Bathed in the band’s atmospheric alt-rock, the future feels brighter and more optimistic Life After is both an album about loss and a manual to moving on. “I’m writing this song, to help you breathe again,” sings Leo Wyndham on the opening title track, a shimmering ode to survival. By the epic, seven minute-plus closer Heaven Up There, the theme of Life After is obvious. “Hope,” says Leo. “Hope and positivity – seeing the light at the end of a long tunnel. It’s about going through tough times and coming out the other side.” Palace didn’t start their second album with any plans in place. Buoyed by the reception of their debut, 2016’s So Long Forever, and near two years of sold-out shows and festival slots that won them fans worldwide, the London-based trio of former Dorset school friends had a new-found confidence that they were keen to capture on record.

Sunlight, marble columns and arches that disappear into the clouds. That’s what a palace built for the three princes of indie-pop, Leo Wyndham, Rupert Turner and Matt Hodges would look like. When you hear their music, you might figure U2’s entire discography was recorded in a broom closet – there’s that much space and ambition on the 11 tracks of Life After, the latest album by the London trio. The presence of the producer Catherine Marks (St Vincent, Wolf Alice, PJ Harvey) highlights an increasingly wide and cinematic vision, not only in terms of soundstage but arrangements as well: this is stadium rock at its core, meant to be played in large spaces and sung by giant crowds. Which doesn’t mean Palace don’t narrow their focus when necessary, such as on Face In The Crowd, threaded by a lone acoustic guitar. Wyndham shows restraint on Caught My Breath as well; the purity of his voice is evocative of Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes). But any comparisons end there. The folk heroes from Seattle have a habit of staying grounded, whereas Palace take every opportunity they can to spread their wings and go as high as they can, carried by lush atmospheric reverbs and resounding drums. No Others takes a hint from The War on Drugs, thanks to Rupert Turner’s lead guitar. The album’s closer, Heaven Up There, is a masterclass in layered arrangements: from reversed guitars, instruments pile up in a hazy crescendo, like looking through a kaleidoscope on acid. Life After is a continuous climb, without any of the effort: it’s music at its apotheosis, and a band that’s just reached their highest point yet.  – Alexis Renaudat

Tracklist:
01. Life after
02. Berlin
03. Younger
04. Face In The Crowd
05. Caught My Breath
06. Martyr
07. All In My Stride
08. No Other
09. Running Wild
10. Bones
11. Heaven Up There

Download:

mqs.link_PalaceLifeAfter20192496.rar