Noise Between The Shades by Melting Palms (Album Review)

The act of dreaming has long baffled even the brightest minds. While the accepted theory that dreams are random events helps to show function, it ignores the highly emotional aspect of dreaming. Nevertheless, dreams are one of the most incredible things about life. Waking life is generally painful, am I right? Melting Palms are a dream pop group from Hamburg that might make you feel like waking life is one tolerant phantasmagorical somnolence. Through epically paced and richly atmospheric power rock ballads, Melting Palms show a solid melodic sensibility and tasteful sonic aesthetics. It's a little cheesy in places - but really good artisan cheese from Central Europe. This, sometimes string embellished glam rock, is also irreverent and tragically cool. The opening track, "Withering Flowers" is 90's nostalgia in the best sense - songs, massive in scope, driven by melody, emotion, and fashion.

Where tracks like "Nova" and "Ark" can become overblown and border on falling into soundtrack territory, "Cascades of Noise" and "Nymph" are snappier than the elastic of a catapult. And then there's the more experimental side; the glistening New Age of "Cocoon" or the structure-bending "Cyclone". Elsewhere, "Sheela" and "Aurora" have some uneven aspects, but this album is too charming to fall into the unlikeable. Like an odd dream, there's warm escapism to "Noise Between The Shades". 

★★★★