Capturing a ‘2am B-Grade Sci-Fi on SBS vibe’ is an incredibly specific and articulate brief for what Sydney alt-pop artist LOVER has set out to achieve with his latest drop – but he’s done it with aplomb on new single ‘Palm Reader’. Released today, the single is as dreamy as any SoundCloud deep cut, but with extra contemporary sheen, before dropping away into a trip-hop breakdown, compressed vocals and all, to wrap things up and remind you that it’s 2021 here.
The video for the track (created by past collaborator Jayemol) combines the surrealist and melancholic elements of the song together beautifully in the tale of a tripped-out palm reading, resulting in a clip that feels part Oasis, part Storm Thorgerson-inspired. Working with musicians Nick Ward, Sam Gidley, LANY and Vacations guitarist Campbell Burns, ‘Palm Reader’ is quite the family affair, showcasing the benefit of collaboration with production.
“’Palm Reader’ was started in my second session with Nick Ward, right after we recorded ‘Wow‘”, shares LOVER. “We had rough vocals from the day and decided to see if we could push the song further, like I did vocally in ‘Wow’, by adding the PC Music/hyperpop-inspired outro. I rewrote the verse multiple times and had my friend Campbell from Vacations re-record the guitars to get that huge, organic sound. I was lucky enough to have Les from LANY hear the track and want to help out. He really took the production to a whole new level and mixed all the elements from Campbell, Nick and I together so well. Lyrically I was thinking about how the people close to you are often way more perceptive to the path you are going down. I thought the Palm Reader was a great analogy for this.”
‘Palm Reader’ is the latest side for us to see of LOVER, who dropped his debut extended play It’s A Wild World last year.
