PREMIERE | Past Palms, 'Empyrean'
The crown prince of the new organic, electro ambient school — Past Palms; photographed by Lee Barnes.
Praised by the world of EDM aficionados, electro / experimental heads, gatekeepers and the like — Past Palms is without a doubt one of the most exciting names in the progressive fields of electro art pop. For those in the know, the Brooklyn-based artist Sam Friedman has been meticulously working on bridging the divide between the unguarded and expressive emotion and intuitive systems of psychic electronic leaning soundscapes. From humble yet prodigious beginnings, Friedman shared early glimpses in conceptual descriptive sketches and visions of sincerity and serenity with us six years ago. Meeting up at our office’s unofficial public gathering space at Thee Parkside in San Francisco, we would be privy to the plans and rough drafts that Sam would gradually fuse and photosynthesize into another greenhouse world of lush and leafy audio tropics — Past Palms.
The self-titled established the possibilities of exhibiting new frontiers with delicately balanced and designed ambient found sounds blended with holistic electronics. The follow-up Vernal EP released on March 20 of 2020 would further expound upon the rhythmic and hypnogogic faculties of ethereal percussion and then just like that, the entire world closed down. With shelter in place orders in full effect, NYC became a hot zone and time fell into the ether of immaterialism as Friedman’s processes became shifted, reevaluated and ultimately reenergized. With a slow leak of noteworthy singles like When the Sun Reaches Its Highest Point in the Sky and the cinema-scapes of Senescence, these mystifying kernels of light shined the way for the most majestic Past Palms production to date with the spirited celestial illuminated aura of Empyrean. Intrigued by the creative utilization of instruments such as the djembe, erhu, guzheng harp, zither and more that the artist heard in the soundtracks to Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra; Friedman set out to create a musical chariot of fire in a fascinating and ferocious mission to emulate (and imitate) heavenly places and paradise spaces of palatial pop.
Presenting the debut of the Empyrean EP — harp strung arpeggios spring vivaciously to life from field recorded ambience to atmospheric synth strings that mimic the very inception and notion of infinity on the opener "Endlessly". Executing an environmentally conscious world of intricately etched aural flora and fauna, the new release finds Friedman working with creative canvases and a tropical template like the long lost muse of Gigi Masin. Elaborating and building upon the blogwave pillars of cloud rap bedroom producers of Tri Angle Records alum and Soundcloud sommeliers of subterranean sound; Past Palms pushes past the superlatives of witch-houses, sea and slime punks, vapor wavers and hedonistic beat synths to create a sense of sustainable pop paradises for the entirety of the spirit and senses. The delights of "Dragon Tree" steps into the crosswalk of cultural kaleidoscopes where eastern traditional instrumentation is met by some of the most magnificent electronic production of modern day.
Taking the motifs of rustic rhythms blended into the fold of sophisticated dance pop sequencing even further is the mad brilliance of "Cloudbloom" that accentuates and amplifies the convection cycles of sound into deeper stratospheres of heavenly heights. The title track itself is the greatest diamond horn encrusted beat that Clams Casino never made, begging to be remixed or rhymed over by a fellow luminary. The entirety of the record is encased in the luminous luster of the guzheng harp among stems and instrument patches of the ancients as Sam strives in earnest to make a musical paradise here on earth. Economically and sharply orchestrating an expansive work of unbridled and untethered opulence, Empyrean draws to an end triumphantly with the victory lap of "Tropics" that beams with the the light and emblematic crest that embodies the ultimate illustrious style and tropical trademark of the Past Palms aesthetic in execution, movement and mind expanding environs. Enjoy now one of the best releases of the year and perhaps of all time.
The lavish life of plants and Past Palms; photographed by Lee Barnes.
Past Palms’ wunderkind Sam Friedman exchanged cables with Week in Pop in the following insightful interview:
Describe your reflections and memories from the start of launching Past Palms to the oblique strategies and more at work within your own creative hive.
When I set out to create music as Past Palms, I had one objective: make music that feels tropical. I had accumulated nearly 100 houseplants, and my obsession with nature was at a peak. I didn’t entirely know what that meant at the time in terms of sound, but I had a vision: floating harps, lush pads, field recordings of rainforests and waterfronts, ambient vocal layers, etc. On the other hand, I also knew that I wanted to incorporate rhythmic and noisy elements as well, such as trap beats, 808 bass drops, and distortion effects. It became clear to me that I wasn’t ready to just make music that was calm and meditative — I needed to encapsulate my own environment living in a loud, colorless, industrial pocket of Brooklyn. The meeting point of those two worlds became the ethos of Past Palms.
The plant-based pop world of Past Palms; photographed by Lee Barnes.
The growth that was discovered from the gradual creative process beginning with the self-titled EP to the Vernal EP to the new celestial combing canopy cruiser — Empyrean.
With my debut self-titled EP, I was so excited to put out new music under a new moniker that I honestly had no expectations at all — I just wanted the music to exist and for the vision to become real. In truth, this style of music isn’t exactly new to me. I had created similar beats many years before Past Palms was even an idea, but I never finished anything because I wasn’t quite attuned to the frequency necessary to really connect with the sound I wanted to create. Having stripped myself of all expectations, I became open to just making what felt right for the first time in years. I quickly released a second EP, Vernal, which took a step back from the more bright and colorful sounds of my debut EP, and instead embraced a colder sound palette with darker tones.
From the rooftops to the highest extents of the heavens with Past Palms; photographed by Lee Barnes.
Right as I released Vernal, the pandemic had just shut everything down. I lost my job in live music, and was living in the epicenter of the virus. Like many, I had more free time on my hands than ever before, so I turned inward and began to create new music as much as possible. This creative burst ended up stalling out pretty quickly, as uncertainty loomed and depression took over. For months, I more or less stopped making music, much to my disappointment. Then, my partner and I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, and I felt so connected to and reinvigorated by the soundtrack. I immediately began researching the scores and the instruments involved. Some of my favorite sounds used in their scores include the guzheng harp, zither, djembe, and erhu. This inspiration became the foundation for Empyrean.
Rooftop pop — Past Palms; photographed by Lee Barnes.
The progressions of your own work expand into encapsulations of vast dimensions that span the lengths of realized ecosystems and environments of inspired audio aesthetics. Provide us with some notes on your own tricks of the trade in compositions and visceral creation.
I began compiling dozens of samples of these instruments and interpreted them through the lens of Past Palms by pairing them with bass-heavy beats, found nature sounds, and layers of space-expanding plug-ins. I wrote the majority of the EP during the tail end of autumn as winter was approaching.
Components of the natural realm from the floral eastern leaning strings and ambience of "Flowerbed", the arboreal fantasia of "Dragon Tree", the world discotheque fusions that burn furiously in the heat of "Tropics", the skyward rhythm and boom of "Cloudbloom" and so forth.
I often write music as a way of transporting myself to somewhere I long to be, and with the cold killing everything around me, the music was my escape to somewhere tropical, which in many ways, is why the EP is named Empyrean. The idea is to capture my own version of paradise or heaven, somewhere full of overgrown nature with gleaming sunlight and warm bodies of water flowing, encapsulated through music.
Perceptions and other perspectives from Past Palms’ Sam Friedman; photographed by Lee Barnes.
Meditations on your personal/creative connection to the natural realm and how it influenced Empyrean and so on.
Empyrean embraces my love for calm, meditative and ambient soundscapes that evoke stillness, soft textures, and mindfulness. It also embraces the part of me that loves hard-hitting beats, grimy bass and dark, experimental effects. To me, balance is key. My goal with this EP is to provide someone with a soundtrack that could enhance the experience of being present with nature and plants. In addition to providing a soundscape for experiencing nature, I want Empyrean to carve out a space wherein one can meditate and reflect, dance and embrace movement, and feel inspired to create.
Empyrean will be available April 30. Listen to Past Palms via Spotify, Bandcamp and everywhere.