Return to Neon Palms
Melbourne
Check Out the Album
Original Concept:
We wrote and recorded an instrumental album called Neon Palms in 2021. We actually wrote and recorded most of it over just three months so we thought we would see if we can do a album that revisits the moody electronic cross post-rock vibe of Neon Palms. We aim to start and finish the album in the month and will probably record 60 minutes worth of music which we will cull to the desired length. A lot of the songs will be recorded as jams in the studio and then refined and edited but we like to capture an honest raw take full of emotion in the moment.
Artist Post-Game:
I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to share with you the album that my band and I created over the course of a month in March for InCoAlMo. This project has been a labor of love and an opportunity for us to explore new sounds and ideas, while also revisiting some of our favorite textures and themes from our previous works.
Before we delve into the album itself, allow me to introduce ourselves. We're an atmospheric synthwave duo hailing from Melbourne, Australia. Our music is a blend of different genres, including vocal synthpop, synthwave, retrowave, ambient, lofi, and experimental music. We have been writing and performing music together since 2014, and we've released over nine and a half hours of music on Spotify, spanning multiple genres.
As artists, we're constantly evolving and exploring new sounds and ideas. We've always been drawn to music that tells a story and creates a sonic world that listeners can get lost in. In 2021, we released an instrumental album titled "Neon Palms," which was inspired by the imagery that the name evoked for us. We loved the idea of creating a safe, tranquil place that listeners could escape to and embark on a journey throughout the album.
This idea served as the foundation for our latest album, "Return to Neon Palms." We wanted to revisit the textures and themes that we explored in "Neon Palms" but take them in new directions and push our creative boundaries. The basic concept behind this album was to create a sonic world that the listener could explore as if they were returning to a place they had visited many moons ago.
We wanted the album to be relaxing and enjoyable to listen to, but we also wanted it to have an emotional depth that drew from a variety of palettes. We wanted to create a sonic landscape that cast the listener as an explorer, venturing through a world that was both familiar and new.
To achieve this, we combined lofi triphop beats with lush organic synthesized textures and layers of moody electric guitar. We also utilized field recordings of nature and animals to create a sense of being outdoors and to give the tracks a living, breathing quality. We wanted the music to transport the listener to a specific time and place and to create a sonic world that was immersive and engaging.
We encouraged listeners to wear headphones and experience the album as a whole to fully immerse themselves in the journey we've created. While the album is largely electronic, we wanted it to feel organic and natural. To achieve this, we played the synth and drum parts by hand and left many notes unquantized for a natural swing. We also captured much of the performance live, allowing the guitar and keyboard to play off each other and create a call-and-response dialogue between the two voices.
We're incredibly proud of the experience we've created through this project, and we hope that listeners enjoy exploring the sonic world we've crafted. Our goal with this album was to create a safe, tranquil place that listeners could escape to and embark on a journey throughout the album. We believe that music has the power to transport us to new places and to evoke a range of emotions, and we hope that this album does just that. Thank you for taking the time to listen.
(Full album release is scheduled for later in the year, but until then, please use the link above to check out the single.)