Down With You // Palace

Judging from his Soundcloud, it would seem that London-based Sam Walker (AKA Palace) perhaps feels more comfortable doing remixes than his own tunes. But don’t be fooled - the new track released by Palace last monday is of its own kind.

The opening dry clicks and claps almost sound like the start of James Blake’s ‘Maybes’ remix, which perhaps shouldn’t be too surprising as Walker’s remix of “I’ll stay”, his most popular tune so far, can boast over 7000 plays. However, instead of sinking into the murky realms of dark dubstep, Palace keeps it bright and frisky with a warbling set of wonky jazz chords. Arguably, much of what makes this track unique is how the dreaded middle-frequencies have been occupied. Palace could have easily slapped on shit-loads of reverb to fill space and left it at that, but by leaving the glowing synth-pad dry and centralised, he manages to keep a succinct and yet ethereal sound.

The otherworldly textures come fully into fruition at the drop, however. A trembling resonance sedates the beat into a watery uncertainty but is quickly and masterfully snapped back awake with vocal fragments and a lively bassline that weaves all over the track. No matter which part you look at, Down With You has been very nicely put together, with a tasteful swinging between rhythmic tension and harmonic detachment.

Palace - Down With You by PALACE

• Published
• Aug 16, 2011

• Credits
• Words by Georgie_McVicar