Palace has gifted us the poetic and inward flowing Where Sky Becomes Sea. It’s the third single off their forthcoming album, Shoals.
There’s a warm, engulfing presence to London’s Palace. It’s been there since their inception, gently seeping into your conscience with a scarily effective hit rate. Six years on, the band are leaning into the trademark melancholy more than ever.
Uncomfortable truths and complex emotions have become a bottomless well the band can pull from. We witnessed it in previous singles, Lover (Don’t Let Me Down) and Fade. Now, Where Sky Becomes Sea takes the plunge.
Where Sky Becomes Sea uses the ebbing tendencies of natural environments to paint a longing picture of the human condition. In particular, an exploration of companionship, and where it goes when our time is up.
The honey-soaked compound metre makes a reassuring case for singer Leo Wyndham’s conclusion: “Meet where sky becomes sea, our hearts will be held in the breeze”. The beautiful imagery continues, including flaps of hummingbirds wings compared to a heart rate, and silence speaking in forests and creeks.
The single “is a song about the heartbreaking thought of being separated from the one you love when you die, but one day finding each other again at a place beyond the sea, reunited forever”, Wyndham explains.
Reverb-heavy electrics slide along with smooth keyboard, walking bass, and soft cymbals. Wyndham’s weathered voice cuts through the fold effortlessly.
Where Sky Becomes Sea was released alongside an arresting live performance, directed by acclaimed filmmaker/photographer David J. East, who has also worked alongside Foals and Japanese House.
Listen to the three singles of upcoming record Shoals below:
Where Sky Becomes Sea is out now via Fiction Records / Virgin Music Australia. Stream or purchase your copy here.
