Electronic music fans around the world are mentally and physically preparing themselves for the upcoming Flume album, Palaces, and the latest single from the album is a good indicator as to why. The new single is called “Sirens,” and it is a haunting and enthralling synthetic composition.
Caroline Polachek is not the traditional guest vocalist one would expect to find on a track from a headlining electronic music act like Flume, real name Harley Edward Streten. Yes he has demonstrated exceptional range throughout his career, but much of his music is still geared towards the party aesthetic. If not a rager, then a chilled out soiree.
“Sirens” sees Streten enter a whole new echelon of maturity and nuance. Polachek’s ghostly chanting serves the imagery of loss and longing. Neither a specific scene nor a specific setting come to mind, but the emotions are palpable, like a thick layer of energetic humidity hovering over the remains of a desecrated tropical forest. The wood from which could be lost to the equally tragic scenarios of deforestation or an untimely fire caused by climate change.
Stream “Sirens” from Flume and Caroline Polachek below.
Featured image by Julian Buchan
