Flume - Palaces [2LP]

Palaces is Flume coming home, a 2022 double LP shaped by the Sydney producer's return to Australia and a new life among the trees and birds of the Northern Rivers.

Six years after Skin made him one of electronic music's biggest names, Harley Streten swapped big-city life for a coastal town in northern New South Wales. The landscape soon crept into the music. He recorded the local birds around his home and folded them into the album, giving his trademark warped synths and stuttering beats a strangely organic, outdoorsy feel.

As usual, he brought a strong cast of collaborators. "Say Nothing" pairs him with Australian singer MAY-A for a soaring, bittersweet anthem, while "Highest Building" with Oklou glows with fragile beauty. "Sirens" features Caroline Polachek's otherworldly voice cutting through glitchy production, and the title track "Palaces" closes with Damon Albarn over blissed-out chords.

Between the vocal tracks, instrumental moments stretch out and play. Co-producers including Danny L Harle, Clams Casino and Quiet Bison help push the sound in different directions, from euphoric rave rushes to quiet, ambient reflection, but it all hangs together.

Over two records, it plays as a vivid picture of an artist finding peace without losing his sense of adventure.