Palace

Palace | Photo Courtsey Hollie Fernando

Sounds Like: A languorous summer day spent sun-dappled in bed with a first love, a joint and the knowledge that the moment will end, as all good things do.

For Fans of: Jeff Buckley, Foals, Buffalo Springfield

Why You Should Pay Attention: Since these four British lads’ debut single, 2014’s “Veins,” racked up nearly 50,000 plays on Soundcloud in just two weeks, the U.K. music press has been all over them like they were the world’s last jar of marmite. Rowdy rocker Jamie T handpicked Palace to open for him at his first live shows in four years, which raised the band’s profile in its homeland to yet another level. Amazingly, even the Internet commentariat have had mostly positive comments for the group’s new EP, Lost in the Night. “Someone on Soundcloud said it’s like Morrissey and Buckley had a baby, which I guess is kind of cool,” says drummer Matt Hodges. “Another guy said we’re like Foals on Xanax, which was quite interesting. We’ve had a few comments about our music being good baby-making music too, so that’s nice. Sex music, basically.”

They Say: Palace write and rehearse in a unique North London space that Hodges describes as “a musical commune/squat.” “It’s had a big influence on us as a band, as there are so many different people working on many different genres of music,” he says. “It’s also a bit of an instrument graveyard ”” sitars, organs, endless guitars and percussion stuff lying around, which makes for a lot of fun in our downtime when we’re recording. It’s a pretty craggy place with a lot of crap everywhere. It’s gets down to arctic temperatures in the winter, and in the summer we have to pretty much play in our boxers it’s so hot, but it’s been amazing for Palace.”

Hear for Yourself: Languid and shimmery, “Bitter” finds the sweet-sad spot between indie emo and Sixties blues. By Brandon Geist

Click page 10 for the next artist