London quartet PALACE specialize in beautiful, bleakly shaded tunes that nestle in between emo and retro sensibilities. They’re gearing up to drop their debut full-length, So Long Forever, later this fall. An early taste comes with the single “Holy Smoke.” It’s a gorgeous, vulnerable song with graceful guitar riffs slowly built upon with big drums and deep-burrowing bass as frontman Leo Wyndham sings vivid, penetrating lyrics about coping with the loss of a loved one. Wyndham’s gauzy tenor floats in and out of the soundscape, ramping up in energy and strength for a powerful crescendo and dissolving for a feathery delicacy. Here’s what he had to say about the piercing song:

Someone once told me that when someone dies you have to open the window to let their soul escape. The Holy Smoke. This song is about being in that situation which I was, not that long ago. It’s about losing someone close to you, and experiencing something quite spiritual in the moments after death – when by their side.

Listen.

Live dates:

10/19 Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade NYC
11/21 Brighton @ Patterns
11/22 Bristol @ Exchange
11/23 London @ Brixton Electric
11/24 Leeds @ Belgrave Music Hall
11/25 Manchester @ Deaf Institute
11/26 Glasgow @ King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut

So Long Forever is out 11/4 on Fiction Records. Pre-order it here.