Palm, Shadow Expert

Post Author: Elizabeth Schneider

About to embark on a 23 city, nationwide tour that will take them through the end of July, Palm is first releasing their new EP Shadow Expert, due to drop the 16th of June.
The four piece band from Philadelphia has created something completely different and unexpected.  Each song has its own particular feel, but none of the songs have the typical verse – chorus – verse – chorus situation.  “Walkie Talkie” is the perfect introduction to what you can expect – different pacing throughout, minor chords on top of major, lyrics that are in the background of the song.
The title track “Shadow Expert” has more of the feel of a “typical” song, but still has the edge of uneven pacing and use of unusual instrumentations.  A personal favorite for me was “Walnut”.  It has the feel of an early Steely Dan song, but becomes a jam of all the instruments, not just guitar or drums.
The band had quite a bit to say about it all:

We have a history of working ideas into the ground and scrapping them but this song is an exception in that we figured it out through persistence.  Maybe it had to do with the fact that we had been working on the song for a bit and then moved from Hudson to Philly. we didn’t get around to abandoning the idea perhaps because the change of scenery refreshed our perspective?
At some point we changed a couple chords around and some of the meter and suddenly it was much more coherent both as a song and as an articulation of emotion. in our editing process sometimes almost arbitrary formal changes can yield a new sentimentality by surprise, which is something we’ve always been interested in as a band.

Shadow Expert is definitely worth a listen.
Track List:

    1. Walkie Talkie
    2. Shadow Expert
    3. Two Toes
    4. Walnut
    5. Trying
    6. Sign To Signal

PALM TOUR DATES
June 23rd – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right
June 24th – Philadelphia, PA – PhilaMOCA
July 5th – Lakewood, OH – Mahall’s
July 6th – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen
July 7th – Madison, WI – The Frequency
July 8th – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
July 11th – Seattle, WA – Timbre Room
July 12th – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
July 14th – San Francisco, CA – Swedish American Hall
July 15th – Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theatre
July 16th – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
July 17th – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar
July 19th – Austin, TX – The Mohawk
July 20th – Dallas, TX – Double Wide
July 21st – New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa
July 22nd – Atlanta, GA – The Earl
July 23rd – Asheville, NC – The Mothlight
July 24th – Durham, NC – The Pinhook
July 25th – Richmond, VA – Strange Matter
July 26th – Washington, DC – DC9
July 27th – Kingston, NY – BSP Kingston
July 28th – Allston, MA – Great Scott
July 29th – Providence, RI – Aurora

EP PRE-ORDERS
Keep up with Palm here.