It’s been a good long while since we heard from Palm, but the Philly experimental indie rock band is far from defunct. In fact, they’re about to release a new album for a new record label. Palm have linked with Saddle Creek for Nicks And Grazes, their first album since 2018’s Rock Island. Today they make their grand return with “Feathers,” a clattering and off-kilter track that suggests Palm held onto their unique alchemy in the interim between releases. “Long before I felt impossible,” Eve Alpert sings, “I saw a ten pin bowl/ I heard the rhythm of error.”

The rhythm here, while not erroneous, is certainly not anything conventional — a Palm hallmark. In his statement, bassist Gerassimos Livitsanos calls this “an undanceable dance song.” Perhaps it adheres to “the logic of feathers”? Here’s more from Livitsanos:

“Feathers” went through a few drafts – I was initially playing a plodding line on the bass guitar but something about the arrangement wasn’t working. It was only once I switched to bass synth that there was a strong enough center for the atonal guitar and synth pads to make sense. The first one we tracked in the studio, “Feathers” became an undanceable dance song at the last minute.

“Feathers” arrives with a video by Daniel Brennan, which you can watch below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Touch And Go”
02 “Feathers”
03 “Parable Lickers”
04 “Eager Copy”
05 “Brille”
06 “On The Sly”
07 “And Chairs”
08 “Away Kit”
09 “Suffer Dragon”
10 “Mirror Mirror”
11 “Glen Beige”
12 “Tumbleboy”
13 “Nicks And Grazes”

Nicks And Grazes is out 10/14 on Saddle Creek.