Establishing the mood with a meditative synthscape featuring astral melodic details and subtle sounds of rolling waves, aligned to the band’s name, Vacant Shores open Palimpsest with atmospheric vocals and the lyrics, “Sticks and stones, they break my bones…”
We are immediately enthralled by the immersive dimensionality of the composition and the poetic prowess of the prose, with a cinematic allure. We could imagine Palimpsest being featured in a pivotal scene of a TV show like Euphoria, or perhaps Nine Perfect Strangers, which has a more psychedelic vibe.
As for the message of the song, Vacant Shores confess, “Palimpsest explores the lingering imprint of childhood voices, memory, and the quiet ways language shapes identity over time. The track reflects on the tension between the desire to escape and the realisation that the past continues to echo beneath the surface.”
We appreciate the hypnotic motifs, and the cohesive tapestry of sound that manifests. with a nod to 90s trip hop, soft rock and alt-pop-electronica. The glitched cosmic synths coupled with the trippy drum riffs are super engaging, and the ebbs and flows of male and female vocals give the track an all-encompassing energy, almost like a conversational art piece.
The sonic switch-ups from hummed ad-libs and panning percussion before a final reprise and haunting final moments leave us yearning for more. For now, we learn that this is a standalone single, but cannot wait to hear more from the Bristol-based trio.
Vacant Shores features Jon Elliott, AJ “Sid” Sidford, and Suzy Alderton. We have added Palimpsest to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS and TRIPPY playlists, whilst we continue to stream the wider discography of the band, including their self-titled EP.