Palace – Ultrasound

With 2022’s Shoals, Palace delved, like so many other musical groups in the post-pandemic era, into a dark, gloomy musical landscape with tracks dipped in melancholia, portent and a deeply rooted feeling of isolation. Two years on, the London-based group’s upcoming fourth studio album Ultrasound sees Palace dive even deeper into what has quickly become their trademark sound: shadowy, but wholly immersive, electronic-tinged alt-rock.

Ultrasound opens with Everything is Lost: a tender track, coloured with fuzzy electronic hues that’s propelled forward by some of the group’s most raw and genuinely affecting lyrics to date. Penned in the wake of a personal tragedy close to the lead vocalist and primary songwriter Leo Wyndham, it’s a simple yet heart-wrenching opener that tracks the emotional turmoil that can only come with sudden loss.

Rabid Dog is a woozy entry, full of shimmery guitar textures and drawn-out vocals that, whilst beginning softly, gradually builds and builds before being suddenly cut short as Wyndham’s vocals falter in the final moments as he murmurs, “There’s a child in my heart / It’s been riddled with blame / Let’s go back to the start / To reason with shame.” 

Makes You Proud brings slight traces of indie folk, with delicately plucked melodies, bending guitar lines and whispy vocals, while Inside my Chest leads us into more blues territory that, led by Rupert Turner’s guitar, manages to momentarily cut through the ambient electronic soundscape of Ultrasound.

The album closer is Goodnight Farewell: a captivating song that draws the tempo ever further back to the rhythm of a heartbeat. Wyndham’s vocals come at a distance, lost in a haze of electronic fuzz and scratchy instrumental. Soon his voice draws nearer, and the fuzz begins to disperse as the track draws to a close, Wyndham calls out, “I’ll never forget who you were / I’ll never forget.” It’s sincere, heartfelt and an utterly staggering final word.

With Ultrasound, Palace lean ever further into the themes that ran through 2022’s Shoals, but they never quite reach the heights that came with tracks like Gravity or Lover (Don’t Let Me Down). It’s introspective, personal and, at times, quite haunting with its ruminations on love and loss, but there are definite lulls throughout. While tracks like Everything is Lost and Goodnight Farewell are genuinely compelling, with Ultrasound, Palace struggle to find their rhythm.

Ronan Fawsitt
Image: Keerthana Kunnath

Ultrasound is released on 5^th April 2024. For further information or to order the album visit Palace’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Bleach here: