Throughout the course of two highly successful studio albums (both topped the charts and reached platinum status in the artist's native Australia) and a fan-favored mixtape, future bass producer Flume has continually pushed the limits of his craft, making his beats more jagged and broken while retaining a sense of pop accessibility. Third album Palaces seems like an evolution from the deconstructed trap of 2019 mixtape Hi This Is Flume, but with more of the hooks and guest vocals of 2012's Flume and 2016's Grammy-winning Skin. Unmistakably influenced by the late SOPHIE, who appeared on Hi This Is Flume, the production has a stretched-out, rubbery-yet-metallic quality, and the songs balance sugary vocal hooks with truly intense beat formations. "ESCAPE," co-produced by Quiet Bison, is an early highlight, leaving space at the beginning for Kučka's sparkling vocals before chopping them up during an epic buildup that leads to a frazzled, disorienting drop. Similarly, "I Can't Tell" (with LAUREL) is a fairly calm, beatless synth pop tune during its verses, then it feels like it's trying hard not to completely combust during its wordless chorus. "Get U" spreads lush, atmospheric synths and a manipulated vocal phrase over brittle, stuttering beats that have a slight reggaeton-like kick to them. Flume's raygun-like synths zap through Virgen Maria's Shygirl-esque vocals during the brashly sexual "Only Fans." The Afroswing-influenced "Hollow," with Emma Louise, is more comforting, but there's still a tense edge to its glitchy, wistful chorus. The album's high point is "Sirens," one of two Danny L Harle co-productions, which has Caroline Polachek's near-operatic vocals walking a tightrope over crumbling glitch-step breaks. The final two cuts are collaborations with cloud rap godfather Clams Casino. After the more upbeat but still wistful "Go," perhaps the most club-friendly moment on Palaces, the album ends with its title track, an atmospheric piano-based ballad featuring Damon Albarn in space-Bowie mode, which works up a distorted dance beat right before it ends.
© Paul Simpson /TiVo