Flume - Palaces

Album Review

May 23

Flume

Palaces

The outcome is an album that plays more like a This is Flume playlist on Spotify than a record with a distinct intention and identity.

Palaces is so Flume.

Right from the beginning of his career, the unfairly talented Australian producer put his uniquely branded wax stamp on the electronic industry with unusual sounds, time signatures, and an outright refusal to quantize his beats.

In a world where Ableton allows producers to drill down to ridiculous perfection - Flume shifted his sound to the right, with snares in the wrong positions, vocal harmonies stretched and floating, and making noises that should simply not sound good, sound good.

These attributes on his baseball card are front and center on Palaces. And while Flume’s previous two studio albums had no problem going to #1 in Australia, Palaces might have given him the most significant weight of expectations he’s experienced as a musician to deliver.

The outcome is an album that plays more like a This is Flume playlist on Spotify than a record with a distinct intention and identity.

In the Epic Conversation between legendary music producers Rick Rubin and Pharrell Williams, Pharrell defines his role as a producer to “pull you in places that you would not go, so that you can get a different result. Because if you do the same things, you’re just going to make another one of those - really well.”

The majority of the songs on the record could be considered quintessential Flume tracks. From the off-kilter and haunting flow on “Sirens” to the sunshine vibes on “Highest Building,” Palaces is a tight and focused Flume record.

With the exception of “Only Fans” and potentially the restrained “Jasper’s Song,” there is little in the way of personal experimentation. In fact, this is likely as close as a Flume sound can get to the mainstream.

The closing and title track "Palaces" highlights the real strength behind the mission of Flume - infusing incredible aural aesthetics that make you feel.

With such an odd array of sounds, it would be easy to overlook how awful Flume could sound. His mastery of composition, songwriting, and sound design gives Flume the pole position in the EDM race to originality.

Palaces is a strong, yet safe album. It lacks the quirk and character as its predecessor Hi This Is Flume, and the landmark track like "Never Be Like You" from 2016's Skin - and maybe that's okay. It has beautiful moments and a largely positive atmosphere, and it will undoubtedly be an absolute monster on the dance floor.

The problem isn't that Palaces isn't what we expected - the issue is that it's exactly what we expected.