Sorry it took so long, but I finally got a review done
July 23rd 2022
Note: This track review is also in part the prologue of sorts to my review for the full album, we have five of the songs, and have gotten teaser clips of 2 others, and I've wanted to get my thoughts out for Punching Bag, No Love In LA, and Paranoid for a while.
From the moment Punching Bag and No Love In LA were released last July, I knew this album was not only going to be different, but something very special. No Love In LA was an Alternative/Pop banger inspired by all of the fakeness in places like the most infamous aforementioned in the song title, (If I had been reviewing back then I would have given this one an A+ or a 99) Punching Bag was an angelic heavy ballad masterpiece, (instant 100 for me) that nearly made me cry with its final strings and choral outro, and I think it may grow to become my all time favourite Palaye Royale song. Paranoid I was surprised by, because I had initially believed that Fever Dream was the next single, but the surprise was a pleasant one, again I realized how much this album is reminding me both of Boom Boom Room and the Bastards simultaneuosly with a song that rockets back and forth between open and powerful intro, choruses and bridge, and soft, contemplative verses and outro (99 for me). Broken, like I said in my review back in May, manages to give us a love story, a conversation from multiple perspectives, and sees vocalist Remington Leith deliver some of his best and also some of his highest clean vocals to date, a pure hold my Nutella moment. (a little inside joke for some of the Palaye fans in the room, to explain for those who are wondering what I must be on right now. [I also gave Broken a 100 in my review]).
That brings us to Fever Dream. I work at a summer camp, and so that night, which for me was the night of the 13th, I was really fuckin tired, I dont think I've ever had a night before where I've wanted to sleep so badly and then decided "Lets only get 3 hours of sleep so I can stay up to hear a song the moment it releases at 1am and then spend 2 more hours listening to it before going to bed!". But for Palaye Royale it was a small sacrfice, and the loss of sleep paid off more that I could have ever imagined.
Of course there was the Porsche car test Mini - Documentary, and the preview of the track's chorus way back more than a year earlier in a Royal Television episode (in fact there was even one in an even earlier episode of the prechorus that only now do I look back and realize it was Fever Dream all along), so I knew that at least parts of the song were insanely good, but this song had been hyped up for over a year, anticipation for this track, where this was also known to be the moment that the album they felt would blow everything they made before not only out of the water, but into space, would truly be gearing up for release, for the climax of its era, there's always that small seed of doubt, that thought that every band is comprised of humans, who are not infallible, and that moment of "what if it's not good?" and its not that I'd be angry at the band if that were the case, but more so with myself, for what kind of ungrateful bugger would I be to say "It didn't surpass every song that has come before and therefore I'm disappointed"?
And of course, that worrying was pointless, because the moment the first little twinkling noise of the songs beginning crept into my ears at 1:00 am Atlantic Daylight Time on July 14th I ended up going for a damn ride.
The song opens simply, Remington sings the first part of the chorus softly alongside some piano chords, and then the song unsheathes fucking vampire teeth and sinks them into your neck. The song goes into a dark and heavy verse in the same vein as Punching Bag, but also with guitars and strings intertwining like snakes and a more suspenseful building drum track. The prechorus comes in breaking hearts with Remingtons beautiful vocal lines and a powerful buildup instrumentally from Emerson and Sebastian, and then throws you for a loop as it seamlessly transitions into the bright and nostalgic chorus. The second verse and chorus then stabs in with just as much darkness but with an added desperation. Then we get an amazing guitar solo and the bridge, what basically is a new second chorus, a beautiful moment both reminiscent of both Bohemian Rhapsody and Welcome To The Black Parade. The song then pulls for one more supercharged final chorus and brings back the bridge once more, before closing on an acoustic outro, coming in at just over 5 minutes in total.
Everything about this song, from the title, to the length, the chorus, the bridge, the guitar solo, the chord structure (which while I may not be an expert, I can tell you I love it, and really isnt that what matters?), and the lyrics that absolutely blew me away, this song is fucking perfect! The song reminds me of everything they have done before, and lives up to their claim of it being all of their best songs rolled into one, while being also a huge step up on every level somehow. It feels like all three brothers are given the spotlight and an equal voice on this track, and the lyrics manage to be both simple in a literal sense, yet convey a story and emotions and scenarios and dreams of unimagineable complexity, continuing the trend of the last 4 singles from this album. And that is what I'm most excited about for this album, its almost like this album was divinely inspired, these (and everytime I say this I cringe because it feels disrespectful to everything that come before, the albums and songs that I also love and respect so much, and believe are of impeccable quality in their own right), seem to outpace anything they released before, and the complexity, multiple meanings, and hints at their aesthetic and lore that they have written in so cunningly that they do not deter those who wish to get into the band, a complaint that sometimes is voiced about other bands with lore (most commonly Twenty One Pilots, and in particular their 2018 album Trench), but that some other bands (like iDKHOW) have also managed to do quite well.
Fever Dream, as in the album, now has a release date, October 28th of this year (3 months and 5 days from today). Of the 13 tracks, an intro, and an outro, we have 5 tracks, and small snippets of 2 others
We have a solid number of tracks in proper consecutive tracklist order already. In fact once the music video had come out and I had given Fever Dream the solo attention it deserved, I added it to a playlist of the singles in tracklist order, Oblivion's bound to be amazing based on how Emersons piano rendition sounded, we have snippets of King of the Damned and Off With The Head, and those two songs both sound incredible, and while I also know that this song could actually be given this name to quash all chances of this hope, Wasted Sorrow, judging by the musical style of this album, could very likely be the unreleased song by the shorter working title of "Wasted", a fan favourite that was originally considered for, then didnt make the cut or was deemed too good for/off theme of the last two albums, and has been played live since at least February 2018, and probably longer than that.
All things considered we know, just like we did in the last months leading up to the Bastards, that this album is guaranteed to be earth shattering. I'm confident they will do it, they have never failed to impress before, I love this band, and I am super excited for the album (I bought 2 different copies of the CD, which is something I never do on principle, but then Palaye Royale happens). But for now, for the new Palaye Royale song Fever Dream, I yet again leave you with a grade of 100.
See ya later
Tyler
(P.S, Remington, Emerson, Sebastian, if you are reading this, thank you, for being who you are and doing what you do, it brings a lot of light and happiness into my life, and I hope you guys get that much light and happiness back at least tenfold every single day, because you truly deserve that)
You can find Palaye Royale, and all of their links, at their website: palayeroyale.com
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