With the release of their self-produced debut EP, 2017’s Tangy Dream, Palm Haze, comprised of Illhabela, Brazil-born, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based Anna Wagner (vocals, bass) and Lucas Inacio, a.k.a Fløver (guitar, production) have quickly developed a reputation for a unique sound that’s one part heavy, one part icy and one part smooth, as it meshes alt rock. shoegaze and trip-hop. In fact, the EP was considered the third best shoegaze album of that year, by DKFM‘s listener’s pool. And as a result of its success, the EP was later released on cassette tape by Young Heavy Souls and on vinyl through a successful Qrates crowdfunding campaign.
Slated for an August 30, 2019 release through YHS Records, the Illhabela-born, Vancouver-based shoegazer duo’s forthcoming effort Rêve Bleu reportedly draws from the duo’s chaotic personal lives last year. “While Tangy Dream feels very tangible and achievable, Rêve Bleu will bring up chaotic emotions and thoughts, taking you much further from reality and closer to the wonders of uncertainty. Where could you go? What could you do? It’s a fantasy you fall on accidentally, revealing risky and forbidden paths. It’s the kind of dream you’re afraid of, but also tempted towards,” the duo explain in press notes.
Centered around layers of fuzzy, pedal-effected guitars and a motorik-like groove, Wagner’s ethereal vocals and shuffling drumming, Rêve Bleu‘s second and latest single “Floating” sonically reminds me a bit of the likes of Lightfoils and others — while possessing the quality of an uncertain and lingering dream.
