Divulging the tumultuous state post-extinguishment of a romantic flame; the Berliner post hardcore soul revitalisers Future Palace, strive to rebuild themselves in the wake of psychological dilapidation with their atmospheric sophomore album release - Run. The struggle for salvation connected to torrid love affairs is a sticky position that is all too familiar in today’s toxic dating scene, yet their audible display of an emotionally intelligent landscape feels like a deeply honest rarity in need of widespread appreciation.
Such soon-to-be appreciated instances of greatness demonstrating the bands effortless balancing act between the angels above and those down below, are as follows; the band’s first of six singles released in its album cycle, ‘Paradise’ speaks on the ache for the reanimation of self in the face of seemingly inescapable loneliness, ‘Sleep Tight’ sends us into a shivers overload as it begs for reprieve from what is depicted as a waking nightmare, while ‘Wounds’ captures the essence of palpable sorrow as it transports us to the penultimate moments of a derailing love affair, which left us needing a moment to catch the tear shed for our own bouts of heartbreak.
We know that the love and care we hand over in any and all kinds of relationships, that we give a little piece of our hearts away each and every time; as time goes by we begin to realise that the person we see in the mirror, knew and even loved above all else, has been hollowed out due to endlessly pursuing those who wish to use and abuse that most coveted essence of our humanity. It is with ultimate bangers like ‘Defeating Gravity’, that we begin to realise that the insurmountable can be toppled when our fragility can be used as our fortitude. With vocal gymnastics on full display, a wondrous instrumental odyssey empowering us to rise to our full potential and keep the faith, we begin to see that conquering our demons and choosing liberation is the way we begin to take back those once lost pieces of our soul.
As much as the majority of this release is a melancholic wonder, we’ve unfortunately found that the final few tracks feel like they belong on a very different record. With inclusions like ‘Fever’ which feel like a hardcore take on throwback Cascada vibes and conveying the distinct feel of AI dystopian ideology muddying the auditory inspiration pool, which sonically harkens back to Blood era In This Moment, we wonder whether these final few tracks would have fared better as standalone singles, thereby avoiding any hindrance from this album ascending to higher status for the Germanic risk takers.
In conclusion, Run‘s ability to make an audience feel a sense of attainment of psychological awareness, it’s unapologetic grasp of severeness and underlying vulnerability being thread through the albums entirety, stands as a tried and tested roadmap to the emancipation from numbness. Such display of emotional availability can only be seen as a triumphant act of bravery, one which is a brilliantly composed musical fight to the death, inspiring the downtrodden to step into their power and tower over those that inflicted such damage upon their past selves.